Video Captures Family Cat Saving California Boy From Dog Attack

[May 15, 2014]  By Jennifer Chaussee
 
 (Reuters) - A California child pulled from his bike by an attacking dog was saved by his family's cat on Tuesday, which quickly rushed in and attacked the dog, a video posted on YouTube showed on Wednesday.

The video, which quickly spread on the Internet, shows a young boy playing on a driveway in Bakersfield, when a dog lunges at his leg, grabs hold of it with his jaws and drags the boy off of the bike. (YouTube video: http://r.reuters.com/hyt39v)

A dark cat swiftly hurls itself onto the dog and chases it down the driveway and away from the child before a woman runs to help the boy. Local media reported the video was from multiple security cameras and shows graphic pictures of the bite wounds sustained by the boy.

“Thankfully, it wasn’t worse," his father, Roger Triantafilo, wrote in posting the video. "My son is fine."

Bakersfield police said the attacking dog, identified as an 8-month-old Labrador-Chow mix, had been surrendered by its owner’s family after the Tuesday afternoon attack and was in quarantine and would ultimately be euthanized.

Police spokesman Sergeant Joseph Grubbs said the dog's owners, who live in the same neighborhood as the boy, said the dog did not like children or bicycles. He did not identify the owner by name.

The Triantafilo family could not be reached for immediate comment.

(Reporting by Jennifer Chaussee in San Francisco; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)

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