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Rottweilers attack toddler in playground

The Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, December 27, 2006

HAMILTON -- A two-year-old boy is in stable condition in a Hamilton hospital after he was viciously attacked by two Rottweilers on Christmas Day.

The dogs tore into the child on a playground -- witnesses said one of the boy's ears was ripped off and his cheek was gaping open.

It's unclear who was supervising the toddler on an early evening walk and it's not known why the dogs attacked the boy.

The 16-month-old male and female Rottweilers -- who had escaped before -- are in quarantine and will be put down.

Police found the owners 18 hours later. Bylaw charges may be pending.

A neighbour freed the boy from the dogs, who he says refused to let go.

"One dog kept relentlessly attacking the little boy," Mark Berka said.

When the boy's mother was called to the scene, she collapsed at the sight of her son.

"His cheek was cut open so bad the bottom was hanging," neighbour Laura Miller, 16, said. "His pants were gone. He wasn't making any noise. I thought he was dead

The boy's family had moved to the area just two days earlier.