Pit bull scalp attack victim Kenny Allen.
Describes Attack
Rock Hill, SC - Another young victim has been added to the list of pit bull scalp attack injuries cataloged by DogsBite.org. 11-year old Kenny Allen endured a devastating attack last Wednesday when he went to a neighbor's home to borrow a blender. As he entered the yard, the neighbor's pit bull broke free from a "rigged cable" it was attached to and attacked.1 Kenny's right hand and arm were badly bitten and a large section of scalp was torn from the back of his head.
"When [the pit bull] was pulling me, it felt like there were five million hooks and it was pulling my skin off," Kenny said.
Amazingly, the boy managed to fight the pit bull off and run home. His father, Ken Allen Sr., told reporters, "It's one of the most terrifying things a father could ever see. I'm looking you know and he kept running, scared of the dog obviously and when he passed me, I saw the back and I just dropped out, I've never seen something like that before," Allen said. Deputies found a four-inch square of his scalp at the attack scene and gave it to EMS in case it could be reattached.2
On camera Kenny told reporters, "I think [the pit bull] was possessed. I was scared, I felt like it was about to rip my head off." When describing how he got back to his house after the attack, he said he was "touching the trees" to find his way home. When a reporter asked why he was touching the trees, Kenny said, "I couldn't really see because there was a lot of blood in my eyes, and it was hard." Kenny's doctors said he is facing years of reconstructive surgery and skin grafts.
The family's church, Faith Family Christian Center, is raising money to help pay for Kenny's extensive medical bills in a weekend BBQ event. It is possible that the non-profit organization Shriners Hospitals for Children, who provides free medical treatment for children with burn injuries and other healthcare special needs, can help another South Carolina pit bull scalp injury child victim. We urge readers to contact the Shriners at 803-772-0732 and refer them to Kenny's story.
2After six hours of emergency surgery, doctors told the boy's parents that the torn of piece of scalp would not "take" back to his skin, forcing them into "Plan B," requiring months-to-years of extensive rehabilitation.
Related articles:
02/21/11: Collection of Pit Bull Scalp Attack Victims - DogsBite.org
05/03/10: Pit Bull Scalp Attack Victim, Brianna Watkins, Recuperating
Great idea about the Shriners! I found three more child pit bull attack victims that have been or are being helped by the Shriners
Aug 2009 – Jacksonville, NC – child's toes chewed off
Aug 2009 – Cocke Co., TN – Child's ears removed, severely damaged arm
Feb 2012 – Sacramento CA – 10 surgeries to repair extreme damage
I think it is worth sending donation thanking them for their help with these victims and suggesting they help Kenny, too.
He is such a brave boy. Tears come to my eyes when I read how he made it home, blinded by his own blood pouring into his eyes, by "touching trees."
Over the weekend, I subverted a pit nutter. Came across one of those "pit puppies for sale" signs. It was taped to a walk signal activator next to the bike lane I was riding in.
Well, wouldn't you know it, the nutter's contact information was at one corner of the sign that wasn't taped to the post. R-r-r-rip!
After the light changed, I pedaled the torn scrap with the contact info over to a nearby can with lots of smelly trash. And I dropped it in.
I encourage others to take little actions like this one. By doing so, we can push back against the larger problem of children suffering needless and grievous injuries.
Your Quiet Neighbor, if you want to take it a step higher dealing with these criminals, then may I suggest taking the contact information, contacting them from a non-personal phone and acting as an interested buying party, finding out their name and address and then researching laws in your area.
Are there breeder license requirements? Zoning laws? Environmental laws? Health laws? Report illegal or unlicensed kennels, Report for unlicensed dogs. Report to board of health for uninnoculated dogs, nearly always the case with these backyard breeders that spread disease through the area. Do a property search (many can be done online) and send notice to the owner of the property about the dogs AND the illegal business. Landlords often don't even know that their tenants are breaking their rules and laws. Find out what insurance companies can insure property in your state (an easy online search) and send notice to each one about the dogs and business. You can do all of this anonymously.
In nearly every state sales tax id numbers are required for sale of animals, and you can easily search for the contact information in your state and send them (anonymously if you desire) a copy of the ad with full details about the seller.
Contact state AND federal tax authorities to report the tax cheating and failure to report income.
Report to welfare authorities and Social Security (if they receive money or services they are required to report all income.) Report to child services.
These backyard breeders are not only producing fighting dogs (and often engaged in dog fighting) and increasing the overpopulation resulting in death to canines (easpecially for the non-pit bulls in shelters that are euthanized to make room for the pit bulls that the no kill crowd loves to hoard) but these backyard breeders are usually tax cheats and law breakers, endangering and hurting everybody.
As long as they operate under the radar, they can continue to commit their crimes. But if people report, report and report again to every possible authority, then the criminals get exposed.