Dog bite victim's uncle talks about saving her

Maryland’s latest pit bull attack comes amid the debate over the future of those dogs, and all dogs that’s going on in Annapolis.

On Sunday, inside of a home in the 7200 block of Conley Street in Dundalk, a woman put her daughter down on a sofa as they prepared to leave.

“I mean she was just laying there sleeping; the dog jumped up and that was it. I mean just went after her that was it,” said Nathan Bellman, the toddler’s uncle.  “I turned my back to go grab my jacket; as I took two or three steps, that's when it happened"

The dog jumped on the girl; Bellman pulled off the dog, "Raven" -- a three-year-old pit bull mix.  But the dog had already bitten the girl in the face.

“To be honest I thought it was really life-threatening,” Bellman said.  “Because of the intensity of the situation, the blood, and just everything. I mean it was bad.”

Rescue crews got the girl to the hospital; she is expected to recover.  But Bellman says her face will always bear the scars of what happened on Sunday.

“This will definitely change her life,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Annapolis legislators have been working on a compromise on pit bull legislation.

Last year the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that pit bulls are "inherently dangerous."

Legislators are working on a bill that would extend the ruling to all dogs, but allow owners to defend themselves from dog bite lawsuits.

The State Senate's version of the bill is different from the House of Delegates’ version, which passed unanimously last month.

If the two chambers can't come together, the Court of Appeals ruling would remain in effect.

Nathan Bellman says neither he nor members of his family ever mistreated their dogs; but the incident has changed his personal view of pit bulls:  “After seeing it myself, I would never own another one,” he said.  “I would never allow one around my kids or my family ever again.”

He also said he believes the problem is that there's no way to tell what kind of a pit bull mix any particular dog might be, and he thinks legislators should be spending more time on that issue.  “No one's regulating how they're being bred, and no one knows where most of these animals are coming from,” he said.

Animal Control put the dog down on Monday, with the support of its family.

The State Senate is expected to debate its version of the pit bull bill on Tuesday.