By Kevin Leach, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A young girl recently accompanied her mother to Washington Dulles airport to pick up a friend who was arriving from Argentina. A Customs and Border Protection K-9 unit dog that was undergoing training suddenly attacked the girl, knocking her over and clamping down on her pelvis. The dog refused to release, and was eventually subdued by its handler. The girl’s mother was also bitten by the dog when she tried to help her daughter. According to witnesses, the child did nothing to provoke the dog.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital and has reportedly been given twenty stitches in her torso. She has been released from the hospital and is being cared for at home. The mother was understandably upset after the attack, but doesn’t appear to have a problem with ongoing dog training efforts at the airport. She did say she believed that the handlers should take more precautions with dogs in training, such as muzzling them and keeping them away from small children.
It is a shame that an animal being trained to protect citizens attacked this young girl. She will no doubt be scarred both emotionally and physically from the attack.
Read more details about the child mauled by a customs dog at Dulles Airport at Report: Customs patrol dog attacks child at Dulles Airport.