RANDLEMAN, N.C. — A Randleman family said they've been left traumatized after a dog attack over Memorial Day weekend.
Randleman Police Department responded to a call about a mother and 5-year-old daughter being attacked by their neighbor's dog on May 29.
Aminah Laughlin, 31, said her daughter Carmen was bitten on the arm by their neighbor's German shepherd/rottweiler mix dog. She was also bitten on her left hand while trying to save her daughter.
Laughlin said she was walking out of the bathroom when she heard screaming from her neighbor. She ran outside and saw her daughter being attacked by a dog in front of her apartment on Sibbett Street.
The dog grabbed her daughter by her arm, leaving 16 punctures and four large lacerations on her right arm and back.
“I saw that and just lost it. I ran over there as quick as I could. We did everything. It took 5 to 7 minutes to get her. He wouldn’t let her go no matter what we did how hard we had him he wasn’t letting her go,” explained Carmen's dad, Xzavin Sutton.
Carmen was taken to Brenner Children's Hospital for her injuries. Laughlin was treated for the cut on her hand from the attack at Randolph Hospital.
Police said the owner of the dog claimed his dog was leashed. The report says Carmen walked over to the dog to pet it when his dog attacked her in his yard.
The family disagrees, saying Carmen would never pet a stranger's dog.
"It's not fair now that she is afraid of dogs, she is afraid that something will happen to our family dog, she doesn't like the fact that our family dog comes outside and other dogs are around, and she doesn't like that. She gets nervous, she gets scared, she gets anxious - we have to deal with that," Laughlin said.
The dog owner said Laughlin and other neighbors rushed over to help free Carmen from the dog and kept hitting the dog on the head to stop.
The dog owner told police he got the dog from his mother and couldn't provide any further information or vaccination paperwork. He said the most recent rabies shot the dog received was in 2021, but couldn't provide proof.
PHOTOS: 5-year-old daughter, mother attacked by German shepherd in Randleman
The owner was notified the dog would be taken to the Randolph County Animal Shelter. That's where it was quarantined for ten days to make sure it wasn't rabid, then released back to the owner.
Charges were issued against the dog owner for failure to have the dog vaccinated, but the family of the 5-year-old said they think more needs to be done.
"Why would you give a dog a second chance especially when a dog does that to a child,” Laughlin wonders.
Witnesses told police they saw the man's dog with a leash, but that didn't prevent the dog from attacking the little girl.
In Randolph County, they do not euthanize dogs in bite cases.
Animal control said this would have been different if the dog was not on a leash, the owner in fact could have been charged with a misdemeanor.
"We have to deal with that pain and suffering and the fact that we still cry about it because like, what if we would have lost her what if it wasn’t for my neighbors being outside,” Laughlin said.
WFMY News 2 reached out to the Randolph County District Attorney's office to better understand the situation. District Attorney Andrew Gregson said the dog was on its owner's property when the attack happened. He also said that charges weren't filed in this case because it did not meet the elements of a crime based on the county's statute/ordinances. In other words, the dog didn't have a previous history of attacks or violence and the owner had no prior knowledge that the dog was violent.
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