Girl viciously attacked by dogs; both American Bull Dogs euthanized

DUNDALK, Md. - UPDATE | County authorities say the two American Bull Dogs that attacked seven year old Amanda Mitchell were put down Monday morning.

Baltimore County Animal Control says it had the consent from the owner to destroy the two males.

"The dogs have been euthanized and they've been sent to the state laboratory for rabies testing and we expect those results shortly," said Animal Control Chief Charlotte Crenson.

It is standard procedure after an attack like this weekend's.

Baltimore County Police say Mitchell was riding her bike on Saturday evening when the two bull dogs escaped from the yard of a neighbor and attacked her.

She suffered severe facial injuries...her mother who suffered injuries of her own tells us she will most likely need several surgeries.

"She kind of hollered because the whole face ripped away," said mother Shelda Lambert.

Doctors say Amanda will recover, but it is a savage attack the dog's owner will have to answer for.

Animal control says the owner will face several violations.

"The dog's owner will be getting some dangerous animal violations as well as licensing violations, animal at large violations and a menacing animal violation for attacking one of the neighborhood dogs."

All those violations are civil and the owner will likely go before an animal hearing board.

There are no criminal implications in this case so far, but there could be lawsuits from Amanda's mother down the road.
 

  Original Story

A blood-stained street is where the story begins. Amanda Mitchell, 7, was outside of her Dundalk home on Villager Circle when the two dogs started to attack.

"She could not holler because the whole face was ripped away," said Shelda Lambert, Amanda’s mom.

Her mom was trying to fight off the dogs. Her cuts are now bandaged and she showed us the tooth mark left on her cell phone.

"The whole phone and my hand went in the dog's mouth and he started to bite and I moved and he bit the phone," said Lambert.

Neighbors jumped in to get the dogs off her. She was bleeding profusely and left with lacerations on both sides of her face.

Now at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Amanda's mom says she will need several surgeries once the swelling goes down. Neighbors tell us the dogs have been a nuisance, so they walk their dogs away from the home.

"There have been several complaints. My next door neighbor has a little girl, and she was putting her in the car one day. And she had to grab the child and put her above her head in order to keep the dog - the dog was coming after her," said Ann Dannenfelser, a neighbor.

A sign warns of dogs and you can see the break in the fence where they apparently got out. A woman who came out of the house was not interested in making a comment.

"You're training the dogs to fight another dog but at the same time they see flesh as flesh. They're not going to stop. They're not going to register this is a human," said Myeshia Mitchell, Amanda’s sister.

The best news is doctors say Amanda will survive. But her mom knows it’s going to be a long journey, and right now she doesn't want her daughter to face the truth.

"I don't want her to see her face at this point in time," said Lambert.

Amanda's family talked to the dog owners. They have been apologetic and said the dogs were not trained to fight.

A spokesman for Baltimore County police says the dogs were taken from the home, and we may know Monday morning if the owners will be charged.