ATLANTA — An 11-year-old boy has lost part of an ear after a dog attack at an apartment complex on Hollywood Road in northwest Atlanta.
Family members said it took 36 stitches to close the wound on Charles Fields' ear. His hands, face and legs are also covered with bites.
Fields said he was playing with the stray dog and petting it when its behavior changed.
"In a second, it just snapped and started biting. All of a sudden, it just turned. It just attacked," said Fields.
Deanthia Edwards told Channel 2 Action News reporter Diana Davis that she panicked after learning what happened.
"Your baby's ear is gone ... you see all this blood everywhere. I didn't know what his injuries were because there was so much blood," said Edwards.
Though Fields is matter of fact about the attack, his stepsister, Serenity Swan, said she'll never forget.
"There was blood trails everywhere. I was terrified ... I didn't know what to think," said Swan.
Edwards said she'd complained to Fulton County Animal Control about dogs running loose in the complex for more than a year.
She said nothing was done, and that the woman who took her calls at Animal Control was rude.
"I asked her, ‘If I lived in Buckhead, would you come and get these dogs?' I know this is Hollywood Court, but we're people and were trying to make a living. She hung up that time."
Now, Fields faces plastic surgery and is getting rabies shots. The dog is under quarantine.
A representative for Animal Control said it received two complaints from residents about stray dogs in the apartment complex back in May. It said each time, Animal Control officers captured the dogs and that the Hollywood Road area is regularly patrolled by Animal Control.
The dog that attacked Fields will be euthanized.