A 4-year-old boy is recovering after his family’s adopted pit bull brutally attacked him, mauling the young child and leaving him with life-changing injuries.
Gavin Tobeck of Lacey, Washington, was attacked by the pit bull named Smash on April 1, according to the Daily Mail . The incident led to extensive injuries across the young boy’s face, as his cheekbone, jaw, and the bridge of his nose were broken. Tobeck lost five baby teeth and three adult teeth when the pit bull lashed out at him, an attack that was only stopped when a friend of 29-year-old Alissa Evans, the boy’s mother, threw hot coffee on the animal.
“I literally thought that I was watching him die.” Alissa Evans on pit bull attack on son Gavin. 4/6pm #liveonkomo pic.twitter.com/4jcp9b6kmC
— Keith Eldridge (@KeithKOMO4) April 10, 2015
Evans described the attack in stark terms, noting that she can no longer trust the dog.
“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I literally thought that my son, that I was watching him die.”
Doctors at first thought that Tobeck wouldn’t make it, as KOMO News reports, yet after a six-day-long hospital stay, the boy has proven them wrong. Though a rib was taken to fix his eye sockets, Evans notes that her son could have suffered far worse in the attack. If the pit bull had wounded him just a millimeter further to the left, Tobeck would have been killed instantly.
Mom calls Gavin a “walking miracle” after surviving a pit bull attack. The dog will be put down soon. #liveonkomo 6pm pic.twitter.com/J88zcawmy6
— Neil Ikeda (@NeilKOMOTV) April 10, 2015
“I got lucky, he got lucky. He still has his lips, he still has his eyes. He has five teeth,” she pointed out.
The dog was adopted from a friend of a neighbor on March 16, and the family asserts that they saw no signs of aggression from the pit bull before the attack. Despite that fact, the family has requested that Thurston County Animal Service euthanize the pit bull, following a required 10-day-waiting period to check for rabies.
Last month, a pit bull was found in Albuquerque with a 60-pound-chain wrapped around its neck. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the chains were clearly intended to build up the dog’s muscles, and were padlocked in place.
Evans has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s recovery, saying the funds will be used to pay for reconstructive medical expenses that insurance won’t cover. She has also hidden the mirrors in her apartment, making sure that Gavin can’t see the wounds he suffered when he was attacked by the pit bull.
[Image via KOMO News ]
