Girl, 8, Needs 40 Staples in Head After Protecting Sisters from Pit Bull

An eight-year-old California girl’s injuries from a potentially fatal battle with an unattended pit bull may have saved her younger two sisters from a worse fate.

Arlene Anguiano was outside her East Bakersfield home while her mother was inside making dinner. She and her two sisters, ages 6 and 2, were giving water to her dogs when the pit bull approached, Bakersfield 23 reported Tuesday.

The pit bull growled then charged. Had it not been for Arlene’s next moves, things could have turned out much worse.

“The dog was trying to like bite my sisters, but I got in the way,” Arlene said.

The dog then attacked Arlene as she yelled to her sisters to stay away. She then fought the controversial breed, throwing punches at its powerful jaws that make it a favorite in illegal dog fights.

As Arlene punched the animal, her mother, Daisy Gomez, ran outside to her rescue.

“I ran and I jumped instantly I threw myself onto the dog and I grabbed onto her hair, he grabbed one of my fingers and he pulled my finger and I started screaming,” said Gomez.

The dog, uncharacteristically, stopped the attack.

Deaths and serious injuries have been reported across the U.S. from pit bulls that do not stop attacking once they start.

At the hospital, Arlene’s injuries required 40 staples to her head and 3 stitches to her hand plus treatment for bruises, scrapes, and back pain from being dragged by the dog, the ABC affiliate reported.

The mother told the outlet that aggressive dogs have long been an issue in their East Bakersfield neighborhood, yet little has been done.

Animal Services told the outlet the dog that attacked is not a stray, but the owner no longer lives in the neighborhood and the dog was left with relatives. The dog apparently escaped from their property when a gate was left open.

“At this time, the dog is not in the custody of Kern County Animal Services, and efforts to locate the animal remain ongoing,” the agency said in a statement. “Animal Services will continue to actively patrol the area to hopefully locate and impound the animal in question.”

Gomez said she hopes her family’s story alerts others to the dangers of uncontrolled animals.

She saved her best words for her own daughter.

“You’re a hero,” she told her as they embraced during the affiliate’s report. “You saved your sisters, and I will forever be proud of you.”

Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.