Child attacked by dog at Channel Park

A five-year-old boy in the Channel Park Homes was attacked by a dog on May 8 and taken to a local emergency room with bites to the head and received 20 staples, police said.

Police were called to the medical facility and discovered the boy’s injuries before obtaining a search warrant to have the dog seized on May 11. The dog’s owners were the child’s parents, police said, and after authorities took the dog, the father gave them permission to put the dog down.

“Unfortunately…it is usually the recommendation of the ASPCA and animal groups that once an animal acts in a vicious matter, that they be destroyed,” Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said.

The parents of the child had their other dog seized on the same day, though that pet was not involved in the attack, he added.

“Once you have a dog that you can’t control,” Tangney said, “you tend to lose your right to have all dogs.”

Tangney said he was not sure what kind of dog attacked the boy.