Young boy being praised after pit bull attack in Flat Bay

FLAT BAY - The family of a little girl bitten by a dog in Flat Bay last Saturday has a caution for parents and guardians of small children.

Braylen Lasaga of Stephenville, who is almost five years old, was in Flat Bay visiting with her friend Logan Alexander, a seven-year-old boy, when she wandered off to look at puppies at a home nearby.

Her grandmother, Jackie Lasaga, said Braylen ventured too close to the dog tied on in the yard and was badly bitten.

Lasaga said her granddaughter ended up with 21 wounds, some of them extremely deep and she spent five hours in surgery.

She had high praise for Braylen's young friend Logan who was persistent in getting the attention of a family member where the dog lived to come out of the house and stop the animal from biting Braylen.

She said her granddaughter had gone into shock and didn't scream for help. However, the damage was severe with one of the bites ripping through muscles in her bicep, which had to be surgically repaired.

Lasaga said the message her family, including Braylen's mom Renee, wants heard loud and clear is that children should be warned not to pet animals that are unfamiliar to them.
She had high praise for Dr. Teinye Douglas, the surgeon at Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital, who she said was "awesome" in the treatment of her granddaughter.

Long healing process

Lasaga said it's going to be a long healing process for her granddaughter, and the family is hoping she will eventually get full use of her arm following physiotherapy and other treatment, but there is severe nerve damage and a full recovery is uncertain.

When contacted, Sgt. Ed Anderson of the Bay St. George District Detachment of the RCMP confirmed police had investigated the incident.

He said the official report says the child wandered into an area where the dog - described as a pit bull - was properly tethered on the owner's property.

Police have tried to get the three-year-old dog's medical history, but the owner has only had the dog a year, and is unaware of its history before then. The RCMP had a former animal control officer in the area remove the dog and the owner has agreed to have the animal destroyed.

Anderson said the dog was shipped to the Corner Brook SPCA, where it is quarantined and undergoing tests before being put down.

He said no charges are forthcoming since the animal was properly tethered on private property.

"It was just an unfortunate incident," Anderson said.