An Olathe infant is in the hospital after the family dog attacked her. The dog bit the 11-month-old in the head which sent the baby to the hospital with serious injuries. Now, the baby’s family wants to bring awareness to how violent animals can be.
Baby Winnie’s grandfather says she is in fair condition. Now, her family needs to recover from the frightening experience. The family’s dog, Rebel, is now in quarantine at the Olathe Animal Control Center. Gary Nelson says his daughter had just let Winnie down inside their home to crawl around on the floor.
“She loved him and he loved her,” Gary Nelson, Victim’s Grandfather. “All it took was for her to turn over the cat food and he heard the food and the split second that’s what happened.”
The dog bit Winnie in the head leaving her with serious lacerations and puncture wounds.
“Anytime we go on a call involving a child, we all have kids ourselves, so it kind of hits home with us,” said Sgt. Grant Allen, Olathe Police Department.
Olathe Police say Rebel, who is a Labrador and Boxer mix, has one other bite incident from 2009. They say the injuries weren’t that serious and the dog was released to the family. This time, they don’t want Rebel back.
The girl’s grandfather is warning other families to remember these dogs are still animals.
“I just tell all the other parents, if you do have a household pet, to be aware that this could happen in a split second,” Nelson said.
The family says they had Rebel for four years. The dog’s future is uncertain since the family doesn’t want him back.
