The mother of the nine year old student who was attacked by a pit-bull on Tuesday October 30 is speaking out about the impact it's had on her daughter.

The child's mother Amy Willoughby says her daughter is still recovering from her injuries.

"The injuries could have been a lot worse, but they were bad enough. She had a couple shallow puncture wounds and one side of her face got huge and swollen and bruised around her cheekbone. She also had black eye on that side of her face."

When the student was rushed to the High River Hospital after the attack for treatment, the swelling worsened later in the day.

"She was given antibiotics for dog bites, then we were told if it got worse - to come back. So we went home and a few hours later it did get a lot worse. It suddenly ballooned right up, I was just astonished and her pain got a lot worse as well. So we went back to the emergency and after an examination we were told to go the Children's Hospital in Calgary. So then we spent all night at the Children's Hospital where she was tested for fractures and nerve damage and luckily she didn't have those, so we are very grateful."

 

Along with a black eye and swelling across her face, the fourth grader suffered puncture wounds from the attack.

Willoughby says on Tuesday when her daughter was attacked, the owner encouraged her daughter to pet and greet the dog, before losing control of it.

"It was during recess and my daughter was playing on the Joe Clark School field and saw a lady walking her dog along the public path near the edge of the school field. She got off the swings to take a closer look and asked the owner if it was a pit-bull. The lady said 'yes' and 'would you like to pet the dog?'. So she did. She went up to the dog because she was invited to do so. The next thing she knew the dog had thrown her to the ground, gotten on top of her and was biting her face before the walker managed to pull the dog off."

According to Willoughby, the dogs owner did not remain at the scene following the attack and a student witness ran to alert a teacher.

"The kids were the only witnesses, one child ran back to get a teacher and by the time the teachers came back the lady was gone, who does that?"

On November 2 the High River RCMP announced that they are in touch with the witness of the event and the dog's owner and the investigation is still in progress.

As she reflects on the event, Willoughby says she's sad that a pit-bull was involved.

"It's just really unfortunate that this had to involve a pit-bull, they can be good dogs if they are responsibly cared for, trained correctly and brought up right. You need a strong owner to have a pit-bull, they're not a dog for just anyone. A dog who attacks a human, especially a child, is unstable and I don't want anything to happen to anyone else by this same dog. I just have to hope the best decisions are made."

 

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