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Pitbull Attack Leaves 2-Year-Old in Intensive Care

Medical teams say the girl's facial fractures and possible eye damage may require future reconstructive surgery, prompting police to open an inquiry into the dog's ownership and vaccination

Overview

  • A family pitbull bit the two-year-old at a home on Bernabé Aráoz in San Miguel de Tucumán, leaving her with severe facial trauma and multiple jaw fractures after the Thursday attack.
  • A relative forced the dog to release the child by putting her hand in the animal's mouth and a neighbor drove them to the Hospital Padilla, from which the girl was transferred for specialist care.
  • At the Hospital de Niños the child was intubated, underwent maxillofacial intervention and remains in pediatric intensive care on a ventilator with a guarded prognosis for her overall and eye condition.
  • Local police and judicial authorities have opened an official investigation to establish how the attack occurred and to check the animal's ownership, confinement and vaccination records.
  • Doctors warn that as swelling subsides the child may need staged reconstructive surgery and that the case highlights risks to small children around large dogs and the need for strict supervision.