NEW ORLEANS -- On a typically quiet street in Algiers Thursday morning, neighbors were startled when they heard the sounds of a pit bull attacking a 7-year-old girl.
"I went to the back door, heard the commotion; the little girl was whining," said Tina Harvey, who called 911.
When NOPD officers and SPCA workers arrived, they seized the brown male pit bull responsible for the attack, along with two other pit bulls that officials say were actually fighting with the brown dog.
Neighbors say the animal charged at the girl while she walked between two houses on Vallette Street, leaving her with multiple wounds on her ankle.
"You know, I was there to give her a hug. You know, she laid on my shoulder, and I was there until the ambulance came," said Romecka Badon, who lives a few houses down from the scene.
For Harvey, it was a disturbing, tense situation.
"I was shook up, and I saw the little girl was bloody -- it really shook me up. I ain't never saw a dog viciously bite a child, not that, you know, a little girl, she was little, 7 years old," she said.
The pit bull attack was the second in the city in less than 24 hours. Wednesday night, a 5-year-old girl was mauled on Warrington Drive in Gentilly.
When officers arrived, they say the dog had the little girl's head in its mouth -- forcing them to shoot and kill the animal.
The attack left the child in critical condition.
Louisiana SPCA Communications Director Katherine LeBlanc said both cases are under investigation.
"It's devastating -- the fact that these children were hurt and the fact that dogs were involved is just very upsetting," she said.
LeBlanc acknowledges pit bulls can be dangerous, but she points out, if cared for properly, they can also be great pets. LeBlanc said the vast majority of attacks are carried out by unsterilized dogs.
She also said it's critical to follow local pet laws.
"We have a leash law in Orleans Parish. All dogs that are not on your property should be on a leash. If you do have a dog, then you are required to keep that dog constrained on your property. Whether it's through fencing, through kennels, through runs, it is your responsibility to keep that dog on your property," she said.
The pit bull seized in the Algiers attack will be held in SPCA custody for 10 days, officials say, where the dog will be tested for rabies.
Then, a judge will determine the animal’s fate.
The dog’s owner was cited for various violations, including owning a vicious dog and allowing the dog to roam at large.
New Orleans Police and the SPCA are still working to identify an owner in the Gentilly attack.
