Two Boys Attacked By Dog In Neighborhood Alley

Dog Attack Victim Talks To NBC 4

By Rick Reitzel

Two boys playing outside were attacked by a Pit Bull mix and now that dog's owners are facing state charges.

Two boys playing outside were attacked by a Pit Bull mix and now that dog's owners are facing state charges.

TJ Rapp, 10, said he and his brother were looking for grasshoppers to feed to their fish when they were attacked in a neighborhood alley.

"After he got my brother, I was punching him real hard and he got on my arm and jumped and scratched a chunk off my nose," Rapp said.

Rapp wrapped his hoodie around his arm to fend off the dog's teeth and claws.

"I wanted to hurt the dog and make sure it doesn't get to my brother," he said.

His 4-year-old brother, Matthew, was able to get away. Then TJ had to back down the alley with the dog attacking his arm.

"He was jumping under the bush and I was walking away real slow punching him," he said.

The dog had clawed it's way under a wooden fence behind a home on Midland Avenue in Columbus.

For now, Franklin County Animal Care Control has the dog and according to Spokesperson Susan Smith, they have filed three state charges against the owners. But, Chief of Staff for the City of Columbus Prosecutor's Office Bill Hedrick said, "The victims can come into the Prosecutor's Office and file city charges too."

"What's really good about the Columbus statute is (that) as a prosecutor, I don't have to prove specifically what breed of dog it is. I just have to prove it is a dog," Hedrick said.

Tuesday evening after the attack, one of the owners defended the pit bull mix named Ghost.

"The kids love him to death. He is very, very playful and he plays with the 14 cats we have inside. So he's never hurt anybody since we've had him for over a year," said owner Ronda Reed.

The victims said the dog didn't stop even after they made it back to their home.

"The dog was trying to get my Grandma so my Dad came out and scared it away," TJ said.

TJ had three stitches in his nose and Matthew had stitches in his head and eye.

The dog's owners face charges of:

• Failure to license the dog
• Failure to have Pit Bull insurance
• Failure to control a dog

Animal Control has Ghost quarantined for ten days.

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The dog may not have a history of aggression or attacking animals and humans; however, the owner has only had the dog for a year. It attacked 2 children while they played outside—bottom line is the dog should be put down!! The owner has only herself to blame for allowing it to get loose.