Stray dog attacks 1-year-old boy at French Valley park

FRENCH VALLEY, RIVERSIDE COUNTY (KABC) -- A 1-year-old boy was hospitalized after being viciously attacked by a stray dog at a French Valley park. The dog remains on the loose.

The dog attacked Kaidyn Sutton in the face at Emerald Park at 31736 Emerald Drive at about 4 p.m.

Michaela Sutton, the boy's mom, says she wrestled the dog away, but it lunged again, ripping into the boy's cheek.

"I heard him scream," Sutton said. "That's when I saw the dog letting go of his face and I ran over then to pick him up and it lunged at him again and got the side of his face. There was no warning, I was standing there, talking to my friend and my kid started screaming so I ran over there to get him and he was just like latched on to his forehead."

Sutton says she takes her son to Emerald Park almost every other day. She says she's never seen the large dog before and described the dog as possibly a black Rottweiler with no collar or leash.

The dog tore through the toddler's forehead from temple to temple, the second bite to the bone on his right cheek and jaw.

Kaidyn's father, who serves in the U.S. Army Reserve, rushed from drill at Camp Pendleton to be by his son's side at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, where he is undergoing surgery. The 1-year-old's family says he faces several surgeries to try to repair the damage. Doctors were particularly worried about a torn tendon in Kaidyn's face, which controls facial movements.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies and Riverside County Animal Control officers were searching the neighborhood for the dog, which ran from the scene. Kaidyn's family is asking for the public's help to find the dog before it attacks again.

"I really hope they find him because I don't want to see anybody else have to go through what I'm going through," Sutton said.