1-year-old mauled by pit bull and man who intervened expected to recover

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A 1-year-old was left with severe wounds after a dog attack on Detroit's west side Tuesday.

That boy was rushed to Detroit Children's Hospital of Michigan in serious condition. FOX 2 is told he underwent surgery but is expected to recover. We are told that may not have been the case had a family friend not intervened in that dog attack.

The dog mauling happened on Rosemont Street south of Eight Mile. The victims were a 47-year-old man and the toddler he tried to save.

"He's energetic, a very sweet little boy," said Angelice Harris, a family friend. "It's painful so you know a child is now having to go through unnecessary pain because of the negligence of somebody else. "

Harris' husband Johnell was bitten several times trying to rescue the boy. Johnell was rushed to Sinai Grace Hospital.

"He was just in a lot of pain, he was going in and out, he was losing a lot of blood," Harris said.

It all happened just after 3 p.m. when Detroit police say the toddler was playing in his front yard, when the next door neighbor's pit bull ran from its backyard and attacked the boy- biting his neck.
 
Harris intervened, grabbing the child and punching the dog which then turned on him. The dog mauled his arm before attacking the child a second time.

HERO: Johnell Harris jumped in to save the boy being mauled then had the dog turn on him.

Police say the dog's owner eventually pulled it away. The dog was initially chained it is not entirely clear how it got loose.
  
"You are responsible for your pet," Harris said. "Nobody here hates dogs. We all love dogs, but you are responsible for your pet." 

"This was not intentional - the first thing I told the officer when I walked up was how was the baby and the person who was bitten how are they," said Junighter Hayes, whose son owns the dog.

Hayes' son was taken into custody and Detroit Animal Control has the pit bull.

The mauling sparked tension between the neighbors and those close with the victims. 

"None of them are bleeding and none of them are in the hospital," Harris said. "None of them are about to fight for their life, none of them are going to be having life-changing issues because of this."

Doctors are still trying to get control of the bleeding with Harris' husband after the attack, according to her.

The family of the dog owner is raising concerns about how police took him into custody. They claim he was beaten up, police say that he was resisting arrest. There is an investigation into the force that was used.

Police are looking into if the dog has gotten loose before. A neighbor who lives a block away says they have seen the dog off leash before. The family claims the dog is not violent or aggressive and was a gift to their son when he graduated college.