WEST FORK, Ark. — A mother in West Fork is calling for action after her nearly 2-year-old daughter was allegedly attacked by a dog owned by the family’s landlord. Ivy Ammons, along with her two daughters, was spending time outside on November 17 when the incident occurred.
Ammons says her young daughter, Holland, had picked up a bone from the grass while playing near the landlord’s dog, a pit bull the family is familiar with. According to Ammons, the dog lunged at her daughter’s face with a violent bite, resulting in severe injuries.
“He bit her face. He was like off of his front legs, lunging towards her, and I yelled his name and luckily, he did stop,” Ammons recalled. “I never knew that he was food aggressive because we don’t really feed him.”
The attack left Holland with significant lacerations to her face, prompting an immediate trip to the hospital. The toddler underwent surgery and received over 50 stitches to repair the damage. Ammons also knocked on the landlord’s door, who came out to assess the situation.
“I could not stop screaming over and over again,” Ammons said, recounting the trauma of the moment. “I went into complete shock. I had a stutter and I couldn’t get words out.”
While at the hospital, Ammons learned that the dog had not received an updated rabies vaccination in over three years. The landlord’s admission left her concerned about the potential risks of rabies, despite the low probability. “Even just risking it… What are the odds that a raccoon comes out here rabid? There’s just several obvious signs of negligence on his part of just not doing the right thing for owning a dog,” Ammons said.
City code mandates that any animal that bites a person must be treated as a rabies suspect. On November 20, the West Fork Police Department (WFPD) confirmed that the dog had been quarantined at a local veterinary clinic for 10 days, a standard protocol when an animal has bitten someone, particularly if the owner cannot prove the animal is up to date on vaccinations.
According to a police report, the landlord told officers that he had given the dog a bone to chew outside and then went back inside his home. The report also noted that the landlord claimed the dog had never shown signs of aggression, and that the children had often played near the dog without incident. However, officers recommended that the landlord ensure the dog is kept under control to prevent further attacks. The report mentioned that failure to do so could result in a citation for keeping an aggressive animal.
Despite this, Ammons is calling for more serious measures. “It is a genuine, automatic vicious response,” she said of the attack. “He went for my daughter’s face like he was attempting to severely hurt her. I think cases like this, the dog, should be deemed dangerous immediately.” Ammons has expressed her desire to press charges and have the dog labeled as dangerous.
As of now, the WFPD stated that they would follow up with the dog’s owner after the 10-day quarantine period ends. Meanwhile, Ammons has said that she and her family are actively searching for a new place to live, fearful of the dog’s continued presence.
“I think it comes down to ownership,” Ammons concluded. “Whenever you are going to have a dog with the most powerful bite of any dog, you can’t be treating them this way. You can’t train them in a way to be food aggressive. You can’t leave them outside unattended with children.”
This incident has raised serious concerns over the responsibility of pet owners and the safety of children living near potentially dangerous animals.