A California mother had to make a difficult decision Sunday evening as pit bulls mauled herself and her daughter. In order to save her child, she said she had to stab one of the dogs to death.
“I had to stab the dog … I had to,” Jamie Morales of Pico Rivera, Calif., told KTLA-TV Channel 5. “It was either him or my daughter and I chose my daughter.”
It was around 10:30 p.m. when a 3-year-old pit bull who lived at their home ran into the kitchen. It jumped on Morales’ toddler – identified by her family as Ruby Cervantes – and attacked her, according to Margaret Morales, the girl’s grandmother.
“I walked into the kitchen and that’s when I (saw)...my two daughters and my son on the floor trying to get the dogs off,” said Margaret, who had been in bed. “Finally, my daughter got up...and that’s when I (saw) my granddaughter. I (saw) the dog was latched on her left leg. That’s when I had to actually get my hand into his jaws and open them up and that’s when he released her,” she told ABC 7.
As Margaret and Jamie tied to get Ruby free, a second 3-year-old pit bull ran in and attacked the girl, who is 1-year-old, according to the outlet.
“He had her by the leg and I had to get his teeth off of her,” Margaret said. “He bit my hand and my hand’s pretty severely cut open.”
Neither dog had ever been aggressive prior to the incident, the family told reporters. According to The Los Angeles Times, authorities said the dogs attacked when the child began crying.
Jamie’s face was also mauled. When she realized she would not be able to get her daughter free, Jamie picked up a knife and began stabbing the dogs. One of the pit bulls died as a result and another was put down after the incident.
Ruby was transported to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center with multiple bites to her face and body. She required surgery and is expected to survive.
ABC 7 reported that Ruby suffered a fractured hip in addition to bites to her left leg, shoulder and ear.
The girl’s aunt was also injured as the family attempted to get the dogs off the child. All four victims were taken to the hospital.
Pico Rivera Mayor Monica Sanchez offered crisis counseling to the family.
“Like many others this morning I was horrified and dismayed at the news of the unprovoked attack on a one-year child by a family’s pit bulls … I’d like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and best wishes for a swift recovery for the child and injured members of the family,” Sanchez wrote in a statement.
A study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology in February 2019 found that pit bulls were connected to more bite incidents than any other identified breed. According to the American Animal Hospital Association, nearly five million people in the U.S. are bitten by dogs each year, mostly children who are bitten by family pets.
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