How can a dog owner be so reckless?
In the United States on Friday evening, three young bulls attacked Justin Gilstrap (11 years old) so hard that he was seriously injured. The boy was riding his bike near his home in Appling, Georgia, when a neighbor’s dog ran over and started chasing him.
One of the animals bit off Justin’s leg, then the other two dragged him off the bike into a nearby ditch. There they began to tear the boy apart. The three bulls bit off his legs and chest, ripping off his scalp and almost half of his ear. Only then did the dogs let him go.
Minutes later, Justin is found in a ditch by a relative with life-threatening injuries. His mother, Erica, called an ambulance. Doctors put the little boy into an induced coma that evening as he tried to stop the bleeding throughout his body.
The situation grows more bitter because it could have been prevented. Because neighbors have complained to the vet office many times about pit bulls – including Justin’s mom.
▶︎ the worst: Bert Baker III, the owner of an attack dog, told police after the boy was attacked that his bulls love to chase bikes. A negligence case has now been filed against him. The vet office took the dogs away from him.
Justin was operated on immediately
The boy’s entire body was strewn with bite marks
Justin’s family created a GoFundMe page to raise money for his medical expenses. On Sunday, his mom Erica shared a message of hope: Justin woke up from the coma.
“He woke up this morning and started crying. He talked about his bike and his shoes. It’s all replaceable, he’s not! That was pathetic. I hope he doesn’t remember anything. It really was a living nightmare. (…) He should be home and riding His bike and he’s not lying in the hospital bed. Poor boy!” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.
