Girl, 9, mauled by three dogs that escaped from shelter

A nine-year-old girl was left covered in blood after she was viciously mauled by three dogs that escaped from a shelter.

Police in Wanette, Oklahoma responded to calls for a child who had been bitten by a dog on Tuesday – but quickly discovered the situation was worse than they though.

Authorities found the girl in curled up in her mother’s arms, covered in a blanket. When they uncovered her they saw she was covered in ‘dog bites and several severe lacerations,’ according to court documents.

Pottawamie County Sheriff Mike Booth told Fox 6: ‘Just from the injuries, you know the pain that she’s in and the pain that the family’s in.’

The girl, who was not named, told police that was riding her bike just before the attack. She said she stopped to pick up some pretty rocks she spotted and wanted to take home, which is when the dogs attacked.

According to police, the girl will likely need dozens of stitches and may suffer lifelong nerve damage that could make walking difficult.

Booth said: ‘It’s pretty tough. Even as long as you’ve been doing what I’ve been doing, it’s pretty tough to see and understand and know what the child went through.’

Authorities say the dogs escaped from Forgotten Treasure Animal Rescue, which recently opened. Two of the animals were rescues. The third dog was a pet.

Booth said: ‘(The owners) fully cooperated, and they did give us the records that the dogs did have their rabies shots. The owner said the dogs would be euthanized today or (were euthanized) yesterday.

The sheriff said a lack of animal control laws makes pet safety difficult. He also asked anyone to report loose animals that they see.

‘The more incidents we have, the more reports that we have, the more ammunition we’ve got to go help to make changes,’ he said.