Pit bull attacks child, parents

El Mirage Police and Maricopa County Animal Control are looking for a white pit bull that attacked a 3-year-old boy and his parents Sunday night.

Assistant Police Chief Bill Louis said officers responded to call around 9 p.m. in the 11500 block of West Columbine Street where a dog attacked a small child and his parents at a home where they were visiting.

They were in the back yard when a white pit bull dog with a brown collar entered through a partially opened gate. The dog grabbed the boy by the back of his neck, and the parents tried to free their child but were bitten as well.

The parents freed the boy from the grasp of the dog, who ran away southbound on 115th Avenue.

The boy and his mother were transported to Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital in Sun City West with non-life threatening injuries. Louis said both parents received puncture wounds on their arms from the dog, while the child had a number of stitches for a "lemon-sized" piece of scalp torn from the back of his head.

Neighbors indicated the dog might be living in the nearby Agua Fria River bed. Youngtown Police and the Maricopa County Rabies Animal Control were notified of the attack. Authorities are patrolling the area to locate the dog.

Anyone with information about the dog is asked to call 9-1-1 or the El Mirage Police Department at 623-433-9500.