Parents of 5-year-old girl attacked by dogs call on owner to come forward

By Tommie Clark

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    GLEN BURNIE, Maryland (WBAL) — An Anne Arundel County 5-year-old is recovering after two dogs mauled her as she was playing in her own driveway.

The family is now seeking justice for the brutal attack.

Caitlin Jones was heading to the mailbox last week with her 1-year-old niece in arm, while her 5-year-old, Lachlynn, played in the family’s Glen Burnie driveway. Then, two dogs that looked like German Shepherds ran up and attacked them.

The images are graphic.

“I grabbed both of the dogs by the scruff of their neck and yelled to her, ‘You need to run! Go inside!’ She started to run down the walkway. By that point — they’re really large dogs –they ripped out of my hands, my grasp and they ended up jumping on her as she was running away, and she fell again,” Caitlin Jones said.

Caitlin Jones ran and shielded her two children from the dogs until her two older children saw what was happening and alerted their father, Rhys Jones.

“(The dogs) came back twice after I threw one off, and I was dealing with the other one. They just kept coming back,” Rhys Jones said.

The Joneses said the two dogs circled their home and stayed on the porch until EMT, police and animal control arrived. Anne Arundel County police confirmed the dogs are now in custody and an investigation is underway.

“The dogs were, like, attacking us,” Lachlynn said.

Lachlynn continues to recover. Her backpack shielded her from some of the blows. Still, she suffered puncture wounds, gashes to the back of her head and deep claw marks in her back. She has received several staples and stitches. Her parents are working to heal their family from the terrifying ordeal.

“I’m in a constant state of, ‘Did I do the right thing? Did I fight hard enough? Could there have been something else that I did?'” Caitlin Jones said.

They’re calling for accountability because, one week later, they still do not know who owns the dogs. The Joneses want to see their sense of safety restored, gain closure and prevent any other attack from happening in the future.

“It’s our 5-year-old daughter. She’s the sunshine that was very nearly ripped out of our lives, and so we just ask the owners to come forward,” Rhys Jones said.

Anyone who knows the owner of the two dogs is asked to call Anne Arundel County Animal Care and Control at 410-222-3939.

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