Utah mother says dog went under fence and bit off son's hand - East Idaho News
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Utah mother says dog went under fence and bit off son’s hand

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LAYTON, Utah — The mother of a young Utah boy who had his hand bitten off by a neighbor’s dog Sunday is providing a different account of what fire officials originally reported.

In a Facebook post, Hope Brown describes what she says happened to Austin, her 4-year-old son.

“Our baby lost his arm from the elbow down because it was ingested by the dog. He has multiple other bites up as well as severe bruising on his face and jaw and a black eye,” Brown wrote in the post. “We won’t get into all the details of his attack but to say that we are all struggling is an understatement.”

Fire officials said Austin had a sock on his hand and was trying to play with the dog through a fence. Brown disputes those events and says the “husky went under our fence and bit Austin’s hand and then attempted to pull him back under the fence.”

Two dogs, named Polar and Bear, were in the neighbor’s yard when the incident happened. As of Friday, both of them were being held by animal control officers. They will be quarantined for 10 days and a judge then will decide whether the dogs will be returned to the owner or be euthanized, according to KSL. An online petition to save the animals has more than 185,000 signatures.

Brown said that Austin had two surgeries earlier this week and another operation was scheduled for Thursday.

“We can use all the prayers, support, and help we can get,” she wrote. “We’re asking for donations to help during Austin’s hospital stay so we can be with our baby. He’s going to be here a little while longer. Any other donations will go towards helping Austin and our family during this time and hopefully getting a prosthetic in the future. He will need one from the elbow down.”

A PayPal account has been set up to accept donations here: PayPal.me/littlemansrecovery. Donations are also being accepted at Golden West Credit Union in Utah under “Superman’s Army.”

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