A father whose 22-month-old toddler had 12 surgeries after a pitbull ripped off his face has warned pet owners that owning dangerous dogs ‘puts everyone at risk’.
The brutal dog attack
Jose Rodriguez’ son JJ – short for Jose Joel – was playing outside in his front yard with his older sisters just before he was brutally attacked by his neighbor’s pitbulls on February 20, 2022.
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The toddler was left in a critical condition after the attack, with his face ripped apart and his skull exposed.
His injuries were so severe a priest was called to his bedside.
JJ had to stay in the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital for three-and-a-half months and has since had 12 surgeries – including extensive facial reconstruction.
Jose has now warned pet owners: ‘When you own a pitbull, you’re putting everyone around you at risk.’
The concerned father speaks out as a spate of fatal dog attacks in the UK caused Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban XL bullies, which will soon be considered as a ‘dangerous’ breed.
Mr Sunak has promised to ban the breed by the end of the year in response to a series of attacks, which could see owners having to neuter their dogs and muzzle them in public to prevent further violent attacks.
In a video announcement posted to his X – formerly Twitter – account this month, the Prime Minister said the breed would be banned following a ‘pattern of behaviour [that] cannot go on’.
The little boy’s father, a forklift operator, from Spencer, Oklahoma, said: ‘JJ was a dog lover – but these pitbulls scalped him – they took his nose, jaw and cheekbones off.
‘People have tried to say it was our fault for allowing JJ to play around the dogs – but the reality is, when you own a pitbull, you’re putting everyone around you at risk.’
What dad says
His parents were horrified at the attack as they previously warned the neighbor this would happen if they didn’t control their pets.
The incident happened when Jose and his wife Cassandra’s children played on their front lawn and the neighbor’s dogs – who were allegedly off their leashes – charged at JJ.
Jose said they heard their son scream and when they ran into the garden, saw the three pitbulls maul him.
He added: ‘I started screaming ”no” and I just ran towards the dogs. I was fighting with them – trying to physically put myself between them and JJ.
‘I got injured too – but it was like nothing compared to what happened to him. These dogs did not want to stop – it was like a pack mentality. They wanted to kill my son.’
