Boy traumatized by dog attack
Three-year-old refuses to return to Worcester home
WORCESTER - Three-year-old Bartolo Colon doesn’t want to go home after being attacked Friday by a pit bull owned by neighbors at his
“He’s petrified. It’s very traumatic,’’ his mother, Andrea, said yesterday. “My son won’t go home. We tried taking him home and he’s not having it.’’
The pit bull attacked the boy just before midnight Friday as he entered a first-floor hallway in the building.
Now, with more than 100 stitches and cuts on his face, Bartolo’s eyes are still swollen. Doctors have told his mother the injuries will look worse before they get better.
For now, the boy is staying at his grandmother’s house.
Andrea Colon said she was returning home Friday with a 4-month-old child and went upstairs to her apartment. Moments after putting the baby down, people ran upstairs to tell her that Bartolo had been bitten.
According to the boy’s father, Pedro Echevarria, Bartolo went to the first-floor apartment to visit another boy.
Within moments, the first-floor residents’ 11-month-old pit bull had bitten Bartolo on the face.
People pushed the 85-pound dog off the boy, who suffered a large gash on his forehead.
There were no records of the pit bull having updated shots, and the dog was taken by animal control officers Saturday. It will be quarantined for 10 days. A dog license has not been issued to anyone at that address, according to city records.
The owners of the dog would not comment yesterday, but the owner’s brother said the dog was very friendly, especially with children living in the building. “We didn’t know something like this was going to happen,’’ Irving Maldonado said outside the apartment building. “We feel real bad. The dog is not aggressive.’’
Echevarria said the children would ride the dog like a horse, and it was never aggressive toward them.
“We’re like family,’’ Echevarria said. “It’s not their fault.’’
But Colon said she has complained to the landlord several times about the pit bull. The landlord told her the first-floor residents were moving out in November, she said.
The dog’s owners have called Colon to see how her son is doing. She said they bought him pajamas and slippers and the family has accepted their apologies.
“It happened in a matter of seconds,’’ Echevarria said. “We didn’t expect anything like this.’’