Holiday weekend marred by Lynn pit bull maulings

LYNN – The Memorial Day holiday weekend was marred by two pit bull attacks in Lynn, one of which left an infant savagely mauled when the dog bit through the papoose pack strapped to her father’s chest.Kevin Farnsworth, the city animal control officer, said the attacks occurred on Saturday and Monday and were unprovoked.In the first incident, Brian and Leah Antaya of 11 Saunders St. were walking along Broadway at approximately 7:45 p.m., their 6-month-old daughter Eva nestled in the chest pack. Munnyhkkie Moutino and her companion, Rodolpho Ribas, were near 55 Broadway as the family approached. The woman’s dog, McLovinn – a tan, 2-year-old, 61-pound neutered pit bull – lunged at the baby, locking its jaws onto the small body.Brian Antaya told police it happened so fast he had no time to react. Although the strange dog was leashed, it was able to pull away from its owner, grab hold of the baby’s left leg and tear into the calf. “The mom, dad and kid were walking down the street together when this dog just attacked. It jumped up and grabbed the baby’s left leg,” said Farnsworth. “It’s a miracle the dog didn’t take that kid’s leg off.”The infant was taken to North Shore Children’s Hospital in Salem and transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where she was treated for multiple bite wounds. “The way I see it, the doctors at Mass General saved that little girl’s life, but I’m sure there will be several more trips back and forth to the hospital,” said Farnsworth, noting that the dog owner recently moved from Wenham to Lynn.The pit bull was euthanized at North Shore Animal Hospital, its head shipped to a state laboratory for rabies testing.The second attack occurred Monday at about 7:30 p.m. when another pit bull – a white-and-tan unneutered pit bull named Champion Fufy Perez – escaped from the basement of its owner’s home at 129A Chatham St.”The dog broke out of the basement and went after an 11-year-old kid,” Farnsworth said.The victim was identified as Malik Phillips of 3 Alice Ave. The incident was reported by the child’s grandmother. Phillips sustained bites on the left and right forearms and the chest.The dog, owned by Michael Perez, was euthanized.”Both of these dogs were aggressive as hell. We had to double pole the one this morning just to get him out of the truck,” Farnsworth said Tuesday. “That little baby had to get lots of stitches. Frankly, the whole thing made me sick.”