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Pet dog mauls 1-year-old; Boy suffers severe facial injuries

Contributed photo Emergency medical personnel tend to a 1-year-old Trenton boy who was attacked by a dog Aug. 10, 2010.

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 9:19 PM Tuesday, August 10, 2010

TRENTON — A 1-year-old boy mauled by his family's dog suffered severe injuries to his face and head.

Trenton police Chief Tim Traud said the incident occurred around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10, at the home of Steve and Melissa Durbin in the 800 block of Barrington Court. The boy was flown by medical helicopter to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Traud said.

Neighbors said a female pit bull-boxer mix, one of the Durbins’ three dogs, bit another of their dogs and Melissa Durbin before attacking the boy.

Rachael Agee, who lives across the street, called the incident a “nightmare.” “All I saw were the paramedics carrying him out,” noting the boy was not crying or moving. “She (the boy’s mother) was covered in blood,” Agee said. “I was surprised he was not crying.”

Another neighbor, who declined to give her name, said she helped clean blood off the boy’s mother face, arms and legs with a cold wash cloth before she went to the hospital with her mom to see her son.

“They really love that baby. They do take good care of that boy. They just dote on him,” she said. “I pray to God and Jesus that they’ll give them strength.”

A notice from the Butler County dog warden was posted to the Durbins’ front door Tuesday, and the dog apparently was not in county custody. Neighbors said the Durbins allegedly told officers the dog was loose when it was actually inside their home.

Agee said the dog warden ordered her to bring her children inside as county officers combed the neighborhood in search of the dog.

Julie Holmes, Butler County’s chief dog warden, said the incident remains under investigation. She had not yet been able to talk with the Durbins, who were at the hospital with their son, but that she planned to talk to them today about the incident.

Under the city’s dangerous and vicious dog ordinance, the Durbins’ dog as a pit bull mix is considered a “vicious dog,” requiring owners to have up to $100,000 in liability coverage for their pet.

Traud said he did not believe the dog was licensed, and that there were no previous calls to the home.

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