Dover Police Respond to Dog Attack on Child

Date/Time:  Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 at 2:50PM

Location:  Sheldrake Circle (Cannon Mills), Dover, DE

Officer Releasing Information:   M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, Public Information Officer

Narrative: 

The Dover Police Department responded to an emergency call of a child being attacked by three dogs on Tuesday afternoon. Officers arrived and located a severely injured 12-year-old boy while the dogs remained at large in the area. A Dover officer fired shots at the dogs due to their continued aggressive behavior but did not strike them. Additional officers and Dover Animal Control arrived on scene to assist with keeping the victim and medical personnel safe so the child could be removed from the scene and transported to the hospital. The three dogs continued to remain at large until officers located them and were forced to use their service weapons to neutralize them due to their continued aggression.

The child suffered severe injuries and was transported to Bayhealth Kent General Hospital for treatment. While the child’s injuries have been determined to not be life-threatening, the child is being transported to A.I. DuPont Children’s Hospital for further treatment due to severity of his wounds.

The dogs (two Cane Corsos and one undetermined possible mixed breed) belonged to a family member of the child victim. The investigation is ongoing at this time.