The 8-year-old girl who was brutally attacked by a pit bull last week has been released from Oakland Children’s Hospital and is now back home with her family.Serena Sausedo was walking back into her mother’s yard almost a week ago after playing with friends when a dog owned by a friend of the family that was not supposed to be at the house grabbed her arm as soon she walked into the yard, according to Sausedo’s grandmother Valerie Baca.
It was the quick thinking of another friend that heard the screams that helped separate the girl from the powerful animal, and prevented what Baca said could have easily become life-threatening injuries if the struggle would have continued.
While the animal, which has been under quarantine at the Manteca Animal Shelter per dog bite protocol, does not have a history of attacking people, Baca believes that it is an aggressive animal that has been aggressive with children in the past and therefore should be euthanized.
“The person who brought that dog was asked to leave it at home because it was vicious and it has been aggressive before,” Baca said. “I think that dog should be put down because Serena didn’t do anything to provoke it and it almost tore her arm off – she has over 100 stitches on her arm and her head and she could have been killed had people not been there.”
Baca also believes that Sausedo’s mother, Summer Amo, was unaware that the dog was loose in her yard before the incident and had no knowledge that the animal was even there. The owner of the dog, Baca said, has been unreachable since the frantic fight to free the young girl’s arm from the dog’s mouth, and believes that the Manteca Police Department are attempting to locate him.
Sausedo was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and could end up requiring additional reconstructive surgeries for scar removal in the future.
“I have no doubt that dog could have killed her and it had no business being around children,” Baca said. “We’re thankful that she’s home and she’s recovering and she’s okay, but I personally don’t think that the city should give the dog back to the owner because something like this will just happen again.”
Manteca does have a breed specific ordinance regarding pit bulls which requires that all residing within the City of Manteca be spayed or neutered – unless the owner can prove that they are a registered dog breeder. For the purpose of the ordinance, a “pit bull” is any dog that is a Bull Terrier, American Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier or any “dog extinguishing those characteristics that conform to specific standards established by the American Kennel Club or the United States Kennel Club for those specific breeds.”
The council adopted the stricter rules after a series of seven vicious dog attacks in 2007 included mostly pit bull breeds. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.