Pit Bull Rips Off Scalp of 6-Year Old Johnson County Girl

Still Hospitalized
UPDATE 11/17/08: 6-year-old Billie Jean Cain will likely remain hospitalized through Thanksgiving, her grandmother said. She underwent surgery to perform a skin graft Friday morning at Cook Children’s Medical Center. In addition to being left with a "hanging scalp" after the attack, Cain also suffered puncture wounds to her hands, feet, back and hips.

11/12/08: 6-Year Old Severely Injured
Keene, TX - 6-year-old Billie Jean Cain and her 10-year-old brother C.J. were playing with other children at a tire swing by their house. Nearby, a neighbor's pit bull broke its chain and attacked Billie, grabbing her by the head and ripping off a 13-inch diameter section of her scalp. Her brother helped stop the attack by throwing a PVC pipe at the animal.

C.J. then ran to tell his mother. When she found Billie, blood was running down the sides of her face. Her mother, Sherry Jean Everhart, saw her daughter's whole scalp falling off her child's head and vainly tried to hold it in place. The mother's cell phone wasn't working and she doesn't have a car. She says God told her to run to the highway. The first person she flagged down was Nathan Courtney, a volunteer firefighter from Godley.

He comforted the family as they waited for the ambulance to arrive at the mobile home park off Highway 76. Sherry later talked to him by phone, thanking him for his help. The little girl has staples in her head and hospital officials say they don't know when she can be released from the hospital. She faces more surgeries in the year ahead. Officials impounded the attacking dog. No information was provided about the dog's owner.

Related ZUPF video

In other news:

New, Chained Up Family Pit Bull Attacks Child
Bakersfield, CA - A pit bull that viciously attacked a three-year-old boy on Tuesday in east Bakersfield had recently been brought home by the boy’s father. Little Sergio Iniguez suffered severe cuts and puncture wounds to his face, stomach, one of his arms and his right leg, deputies said. The injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, but were most certainly "life-altering."

The boy’s maternal grandmother, Maria Muniz, said she had lain down to rest after coming home from shopping when her grandson entered her bedroom crying. "His little face was full of blood," she said in Spanish. "I thought one of the other kids had hurt him." Sergio somehow made his way to where the large dog was chained up in the backyard. The dog repeatedly bit the child and only released him when the boy’s mother ran to his aid.

No Charges Will Be Filed
UPDATE 11/12/08: Tulsa County Sheriff's Deputy David Long said, "If the adults had not been there, we'd be working a homicide instead...They're both about 80 and 100 pound dogs. The little girl was severely injured, they were attacking her. It would have been a fatality." Officials say the attack came totally unprovoked and that the children had played with the dogs previously. Both children remain at Saint Francis Hospital. No charges will be filed.

11/12/08: Pit Bulls Break Down Door, Attack Children
Tulsa County, OK - Sheriff's deputy Cathy Curtin said that two young children were being watched by a family member. The two American Pit Bull dogs were locked in a bedroom of the home, when they broke through a door and attacked the children. EMSA took the children to a Tulsa hospital. Hospital officials say an 18-month-old girl is in serious condition with facial lacerations and a four-year-old boy is in fair condition with minor lacerations.

Related articles:
11/09/09: Collection of Pit Bull Scalp Attack Victims - DogsBite.org
09/29/08: Flashback: Emily Stinnett, 4-Years Old, Scalp Ripped Off by Pit Bull
08/19/08: Toddler Attacked by a Pit Bull Outside Day Care Center