An eight-year-old girl is recovering in the hospital after being attacked by a pit bull in Hollywood, Florida, last Friday.

The incident occurred around 2:17 p.m. on October 24, when police were alerted to a dog attack on the 1800 block of Funston Street. The girl was reportedly bitten by a neighbor’s pit bull as she and her mother were approaching their apartment.

Keyrelly Jean Castro, the girl’s mother, had just picked her daughter up from school. The young girl, who has autism, was excitedly running from the front gate of their apartment complex to their home when the attack happened.

According to the Hollywood police, the pit bull was initially secured in the courtyard. However, it managed to break free from its leash and lunged at the child, biting her on the face.

Speaking to CBS News Miami in Spanish, Jean Castro recounted the terrifying moment: “I looked at the guy and didn’t even open the gate fully when she started running. My daughter was over there. And the dog attacked her.”

The neighbor tried to stop his dog by pulling on the leash and wrestling the pit bull after it began attacking the girl, and he was injured in the process.  

The little girl was left bloodied and suffered injuries to her face. Witnesses quickly ran over to provide assistance and wrapped her head in a towel. 

Hollywood Fire Rescue said she was treated for facial injuries at the scene before she was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Surveillance video from the apartment complex shows the moment an eight-year-old girl was arriving home when she was attacked by a pit bull

The pit bull belonged to a neighbor, and it slipped its leash before pouncing on the girl. The neighbor can be seen in the back left running over to try and stop his dog

The attack left the little girl bloodied and she suffered injuries to her face

Broward County Animal Control took the dog away, and its owner surrendered it to a shelter. 

Jean Castro said it was not the first time the pit bull was aggressive. She showed CBS News Miami a video taken last month which showed the dog almost attacking her and her older daughter while they were moving furniture.

She also pointed out that although the dog was leashed, there was enough slack for it to run across the courtyard.  

The owner said the five-year-old pit bull was protective but not typically aggressive and that it had met the little girl and her mother before without incident. 

The owner, who requested anonymity but told NBC6 Miami that he is a disabled veteran, also told the outlet: ‘That was totally out of character.’

‘The dog slipped out while I tried to help her out,’ he said. ‘I asked them not to move – they didn’t move, the dog didn’t do anything. But the screaming agitated the dog.’

He said that while trying to pull the pit bull from the little girl, it bit his ear and his arm below the elbow. He also said he hurt his leg and head when he fell down the stairs while wrestling the dog. 

The owner said that even though believed the dog was ‘just trying to protect’ him, he felt guilty for the trauma the little girl suffered and agreed to give up the pit bull. 

 The eight-year-old was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries

The girl’s mother, Keyrelly Jean Castro, said it was not the first time the dog had been aggressive

The dog attack occurred at this apartment complex on the 1800 block of Funston Street in Hollywood, Florida

‘I can’t take that chance anymore. His protection of me could hurt somebody else, and I couldn’t live with that,’ he said. 

According to DogsBite.org, a nonprofit that tracks dog attacks, every day nearly 1,000 US citizens require emergency care treatment for dog bite injuries, and about 12,480 are hospitalized due to their injuries every year. 

The nonprofit recorded 63 fatal dog bites in 2023. Children made up 24 percent of those victims.

There is not yet data available for this year or last year, but the 2023 figure is the highest number of recorded deaths caused by dogs since 2005.

Out of the 523 canine-caused deaths between 2005 and 2019, pit bulls contributed to 66 percent of them, and pit bulls and rottweilers combined contributed to 76 percent of them.