PANAMA CITY BEACH — A 2-year-old has returned home after a dog attack earlier this week snapped the child’s left arm, officials confirmed.
The attack was not the first by Ziggy Muggle, a black and white male pit bull, but, as it turns out, it was his last. The dog was euthanized Wednesday.
In July, the dog attacked Donna McBride’s boyfriend, Andy Gill, at their Anemone Street home. Bay County Animal Control officers could not find Gill’s pinky finger after the attack. The finger is thought to have been ingested by Ziggy, the couple’s dog.
Ziggy had grown up in the home and was seized by authorities at that time until McBride requested the dog be returned so she could find it another home, according to Animal Control activity reports.
But the dog was euthanized Wednesday after it struck again, this time latching onto the left arm of a houseguest’s 2-year-old child before also biting the guest’s ear.
McBride said precautions had been taken in the home to keep the child and the dog separated until she could find it a new home, but a moment of slack supervision led to tragedy.
“We saved this dog and were actively looking to adopt him out,” she said. “Had I ever known this would have happened, he would have been exterminated then.”
Animal Control would not adopt the dog out after the July attack, according to Bay County spokeswoman Valerie Sale. But since Ziggy was “provoked” and tested negative for rabies, Florida Department of Health officials allowed McBride to reclaim the dog.
According to Animal Control reports, Ziggy attacked Gill’s clenched fist as he reached back like he was going to swing at McBride. The bite severed his pinky finger, which was not found on the scene. Officers advised McBride she could suffer legal repercussions if she reclaimed the dog and it injured another person.
“We repeatedly advised it was a bad idea to keep this dog,” Sale said. “But, ultimately it was her property.”
McBride was quoted $177 for Ziggy’s impound and boarding fees.
A short time later, McBride and Gill separated. McBride continued to search for Ziggy a private home or state agency to take the dog, she said, until Tuesday.
According to an Animal Control incident report and eyewitness accounts, earlier this week Ziggy was lying on the floor, the houseguest was on the couch and the child was standing near the dog. Seemingly unprovoked, the dog jumped up and bit the child’s left arm and would not let go. The guest put her hands in the dog’s mouth to unclamp his jaws. Ziggy then reared up and bit her right ear, then ran off, she told officers.
The guest’s right ear was nearly torn in half, and the small child suffered four puncture wounds on its left bicep and a compound fractured humerus. Due to the reoccurring, severe attacks, Ziggy was euthanized Wednesday after McBride signed over custody to Animal Control.
“He was always around people, so you would have thought there’s no way this could happen in a million years,” McBride said. “Maybe all pit bulls are evil, because you would have never thought he would be capable of this.”
The child was released from the hospital Friday. He is recovering and does not seem to demonstrate any fear of the other small dogs at the residence, McBride said.
“This entire situation was awful,” McBride added. “We just want to move on and put this behind us.”