Owner of ‘pocket bully’ which mauled boy, five, blames child for attack

A five-year-old boy who was left in hospital after being attacked by a ‘pocket bully’ has been told it was his fault.

Four-year-old Antonio Quinn needed a three-hour operation to have his face stitched back together after the vicious attack left him covered in blood.

But the dog’s owner has now blamed the child for the incident, while insisting his ‘teddy bear’ pet, named Harry, was just defending his home.

Antonio’s mother Amanda Holmes, 34, said her son was lucky to be alive, but dog owner Aaron Eccles said the child shouldn’t have come into his home and that the attack was a ‘genuine mistake’.

Mr Eccles said that dogs don’t differentiate between an adult and child when responding to who they think is a burglar, adding that Harry had even given Antonio a ‘warning bite’.

Harry was later seized along with a Staffordshire bull terrier by 20 officers who arrived at the property in Oswaldthwistle, Lancashire.

Mr Eccles accused police of antagonising his dog by using pepper spray on him, MailOnline reports.

The dog owner said he declined an offer from officers to have his pets euthanised and was now awaiting the results of an assessment which will determine whether they are safe to be returned home.

Antonio was reportedly playing outside with Mr Eccles’ partner’s son and was going in to get a drink when he was attacked by the dog.

He was wounded on the chin, cheeks and thigh before a neighbour’s intervention stopped the incident from further escalating.

The child was then hurried to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Ms Holmes said the scene was ‘like something out of a horror film’, but that, despite enduring a lot of pain, Antonio was doing well.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: ‘We were called at shortly after 1.30pm on May 26 following reports that a child had been bitten by a dog on Thwaites Road, Oswaldtwistle.

‘The child, a four-year-old boy, was taken to hospital with injuries to his leg and face. Thankfully, those injuries are not life threatening.

‘Two dogs have been seized by police – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier type and a Pocket Bully Type and the dog owner has been identified and will be spoken to in due course.

‘We know this may be concerning to hear about, but we want to reassure you that enquiries are ongoing into the incident, and we are asking for your help to assist those enquiries.

‘We are particularly interested in viewing any CCTV footage of the area that may have captured the incident.’

Anyone with footage or information should call 101 quoting log 0603 of May 26.

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