Castro Valley toddler injured in dog attack

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Another East Bay toddler was mauled by a family dog, the second attack on a 2-year-old by a dog in less than 12 hours.

Jared Perkins and his wife Brandi Gomes were arrested for child endangerment after the attack on their 2-year-old early Tuesday morning. Sheriff's deputies say the grandparents' house isn't fit to live in.

"The child's certainly going to have to have surgery to repair the injuries; they're non-life threatening but anything that occurs to the head is certainly a serious injury," Alameda County Sheriff's Department Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.

"The renters of the house are Jerry and Carol Perkins," neighbor Gene Poschman said.

Neighbors say the Perkins have lived in the house for 40 years and the little boy that was mauled is their grandson

"And Jared and Brandy are the parents, would be the parents of the child," Poschman said.

Poschman said he's never had any trouble with the neighbor's dogs.

"He's always been good about having dogs that respond to voice command," Poschman said.

"Oh yeah, the dogs are very well behaved as far as I know," neighbor Chris Erwin said.

Erwin lives across the street and is also friends with the Perkins. When he knocked on their door, they let him in. Moments later he came out and said all is well.

"The child is OK and what ever happened was kind of minor," Erwin said.

Erwin says that's what the family inside told him.

"I think it's not a huge incident and that's my impression," Erwin said. "I would say according to them no, and that the kid will be OK; they're probably just checking up on him."

But the mailman who delivers on the street says the Perkins had been warned about their dogs.

"It happened to me last week, Tuesday I advised the owner, 'You should secure your dog before he will attack somebody else,'" postal worker Arsenio Dela Cruz said. "He was, the dog was on the porch laying down and then he just came over and attacked me; he just chased me."

The family dog, a pit bull and German shepherd mix is in quarantine at the East Bay Animal Shelter.

The father is still in custody. The child's mother was released and she's at Children's Hospital with her young son.

Monday, a 2-year-old was attacked by a pit bull in Concord.

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animal, children, dog attack, castro valley, east bay news, mark matthews

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