Rash of dog bite incidents in Racine this weekend: Five children, adult man bitten and injured

RACINE (WITI) -- Racine police are investigating three separate weekend incidents in which a total of six people (including five children) were bitten by dogs. Police have arrested a Racine man, and two Racine women have been cited.

The first incident occurred on Saturday, August 23rd just after 12:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Carlisle Avenue.

Police were dispatched to that area for a report of a dog that had bitten a seven-year-old boy, and was attacking others in the area.

Police responded to the scene and located two seven-year-old boys and a man had been bitten by the same dog.

Witnesses told police the dog had been taken from the area in a vehicle.

The seven-year-old boys and the man who were bitten were taken to the hospital for treatment. The boys were eventually transferred to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee.

Police later learned the dog, a pit bull named "Pretty Boy" had been in a fenced yard of a home in the area. The dog was able to escape from the yard -- running into the alley and attacking the boys.

Police say a 44-year-old man saw the dog attacking the boys, and attempted to stop the dog.

That's when police say the dog bit the 44-year-old man on the leg. He escaped by jumping onto a parked car.

Police say an individual then took "Pretty Boy" from the area in a green van.

Police believe "Pretty Boy" to belong to a 37-year-old Racine man. He was located and interviewed.

Later, police in Kenosha located "Pretty Boy" tied to a pole after responding to a report that a dog had been left tied to a pole by a person driving a green van.

The dog's 37-year-old owner was arrested for a probation violation and obstructing an officer. He was also issued several municipal citations.

Jhyshon Bean is one of the seven-year-old boys attacked by "Pretty Boy" this weekend. He says he and a friend were riding their bikes when it happened.

"It felt like...like you could feel like, its nails like, just going into you," Bean said.

Much of Bean's skin is now covered with bandages. He says the dog bit him 17 times.

Bean says he had to get stitches, and he spent a night in the hospital following the attack.

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The next incident occurred on Saturday, around 4:00 p.m.

That's when police responded to the hospital for a report of a five-year-old girl who had been bitten by a dog.

Police learned the five-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl were visiting family in the 1600 block of Quincy Avenue.

Police say "Lilo," a pit bull terrier, was released from a kennel inside the home, and the dog was able to enter the rear yard of the home. Several children were playing in the yard, and the dog was apparently startled by the children.

Police say "Lilo" bit the five-year-old girl and the 11-year-old girl was bitten on the hand when she attempted to "free" the five-year-old.

Both girls were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

The dog's owner, a 20-year-old Racine woman, was issued a citation, as the dog wasn't licensed.

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The third incident occurred on Sunday, August 24th around 2:30 p.m.

That's when police again responded to the hospital for a report of a five-year-old who had been bitten by a dog.

The five-year-old was visiting a neighbor's home in the 1500 block of May Street, and was trying to pet "Felony" -- a pit bull mix. That's when police say the dog bit the little girl in the face.

The dog's owner, a 30-year-old Racine woman was issued two municipal citations, as the dog wasn't licensed, and wasn't up-to-date on vaccinations.

The five-year-old girl was taken to the hospital for treatment of her injuries.

So with all these incidents just this past weekend in Racine, all involving pit bulls, how often to these type of incidents occur?

"I wouldn`t say that we see pit bulls as a more frequent attacker of humans. I think that would be unfair to say. I will say that in my experience -- a pit bull will give a more traumatic bite," Dr. Ryan Chellin with Wheaton Franciscan All Saints Hospital in Racine said.

Dr. Chellin says the high number of attacks this past weekend was definitely not typical, but he says there seems to have been an increase in dog attacks this summer.

"It`s fair to say that I think this summer has been a little bit more frequent dog bites -- I think at least for this emergency department," Dr. Chellin said.

While all of this weekend's incidents involved pit bulls, Dr. Chellin says that's not always the case.

"I would say if you put seven different dogs in front of me, I would say depending on the situation, any one of them would be the same amount of risk of causing a bite," Dr. Chellin said.