Father witnesses his 2-year-old son get mauled by dogs

COVINGTON, Ga — The man who saved his 2-year-old son from two dogs mauling him to death told Channel 2 Action News how it all unfolded.

The 2-year-old boy was released from the hospital Monday. He has several stitches on his face and neck, and puncture wounds on his head.

The family told Channel 2’s Craig Lucie that the dogs came from the side of his yard. One of them was dragging a 7-foot chain, and the boy’s father said his son’s waist got tangled in the chain and the dogs began mauling him.

“To see your son up under two dogs, it’s scary,” James Hardegree said.

Hardegree said his son’s injuries are extensive. His mother said she screamed when she saw her son after the dogs mauled him.

“He had 4 1/2 inch gash in his face all the way to the bone. On this side, his ear, two deep puncture wounds,” Lindsay Brown said.

A plastic surgeon stitched his ear and part of his cheek back together in a two-hour surgery this weekend.

The child’s father said he saw the loose dogs play tug of war with a dead animal they found in some nearby woods. But then they got violent.

Hardegree said when he saw the two dogs fighting, he grabbed his son, put him inside and locked the door, but his son knew how to unlock the door and moments later, he slipped out.

Hargegree describes one of the dogs resembling a Labrador and that the other was possibly a Labrador and Rottweiler mix.

The parent’s said they now want to find the dog’s owner and they believe the dog dragging the chain lives around the neighborhood somewhere. They were roaming the neighborhood Monday afternoon looking for the owner and have been telling neighbors to keep an eye out as a lot of children live and play in the neighborhood.

Animal Control did come out looking for the dogs, but have yet to find them.

WSBTV