A dog mauled a three-year-old boy on Monday afternoon at his home in Barrackpore, leaving him with gaping wounds on both sides of his face.
Up to Tuesday afternoon, little Jalil was at the San Fernando General Hospital with his worried mother, Cassyann Dass, at his bedside. She has asked for his surname not to be used.
The mauling, she said, happened very fast.
Dass, 32, said he was expected to have surgery. As a result, he could not eat or drink and was hungry and in pain.
Jalil turned three on Saturday.
The mother of two, from Mussarap Trace, off GP Road, said the incident happened in the gallery at around 2.20 pm on Monday.
From what she was told, the dog is an Akita mixed with a pothound and belongs to a businessman.
Dass said Jalil was sitting and playing with a ball in the gallery. She was there, but went inside to get a walker for her other son, who is one year old.
While inside with her younger son, she heard Jalil’s screams.
"I watched and saw the dog on top of my child in the gallery. I ran up to the dog and jump-kicked it in the mouth. That dog is very big, it is about 200 pounds, and my child is only about 30 pounds," Dass said. "The dog’s mouth was over the child’s jaw. That is how big the dog is."
She also hit the dog with shoes that were nearby, and it let go of the child. She picked up her sons and ran toward a neighbour’s home for help.
They got into his car and headed to the health centre.
Before driving off, he took her back to the house to close the front door, and the dog was still lingering.
"I had seen the dog walking in the road before, but I did not know whose dog it was. The dog has a leash. When this happened, someone said who the dog belonged to," Dass said. "My child is welcome to play freely in his house.
"That does not give the owner rights to have his dog roaming freely on the roads."
A video of Dass holding her injured child on their way for medical care has gone viral on social media.
She accused critics of suggesting she was responsible for the injuries.
"My children are my priority. I would never hurt them. I take care of my children seven days a week. Where I go, my children go. My husband was at work when this happened," she said.
A nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said the dog also tried to attack another relative later in the day on Monday.
A report was made to the police on Tuesday. The police said they could not confirm who the owner was or the location of the dog.
Investigations are ongoing.
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