Mother of Utah boy who lost arm in dog attack says he’s scared, angry

LAYTON, Utah — The mother of a Layton, Utah, boy whose arm was bitten off in a dog attack while he played in his backyard has posted a Facebook message giving details of the incident and the struggle her son is now going through.

On March 3, firefighters said the boy had a sock on his hand and was trying to play with the two dogs next door through a chain-link fence in his backyard, and one of the dogs bit down and tore off part of his arm.

Now his mother, Hope Brown, says the part about the sock was not true.

“Anyone who can do a simple Google search can see that the fire department has removed that statement. It was all speculation, and during the investigation, that statement had completely been removed from their websites and social media. It just keeps getting quoted over and over. It has caused an unbelievable amount of threats and hate sent to our family,” she said.

RELATED: 4-year-old with missing arm in stable condition, dog in custody

As for her son, Austin, he’s home now and is physically “doing as well as we can hope,” Brown said.

His “entire forearm was chewed off 5 centimeters below his elbow,” and he now has medical issues that include him needing to see a cardiologist, undergo orthopedic therapy and have bone surgeries until he stops growing.

But Austin is also dealing with mental trauma and needs PTSD counseling, she said.

“Emotionally he is a wreck. He’s scared, he’s so angry,” said Brown. “He can’t leave my side without panicking. Going from being a willful, sweet, happy, loving and empathetic little guy to an angry and confused small child has been awful.”

Brown said Austin was conscious during the entire ordeal.

“Even when my husband was busy saving his life by stopping him from bleeding out he was awake and aware the entire time,” Brown said.

Austin summarized what happened to him as “I saw a puppy nose! I touched the puppy nose, and it bit my fingers and pulled me.”

Brown takes issue with people saying her family was in this for the money.

“The flashbacks both my husband and child are having, my son’s night terrors, watching our baby struggle so bad that he can’t even do his passions like putting together his trains and train tracks is heart-wrenching to witness,” she said. “People are saying we’re looking for a payday? I would pay ANY amount of money, I would do anything to have had this not happen.”

Brown says any extra money left over after insurance payouts — if there are any — will go to Austin as an adult.

FOX 13 reports the two dogs involved in the attack have been surrendered to animal control.

You can donate to Austin’s family on PayPal.