Parents Of Akita Attack Victim Angered Over Alleged Lack Of LAPD Action

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — The parents of a boy attacked by a large dog, which was leashed and out for a walk with its owner, are angry after LAPD told them there is nothing they can do.

John and Kim Hinton were in their front yard with their young son Jack the day after Christmas when a woman passed by walking her Akita.

The woman said that the dog was friendly, at which point Jack approached the Akita, and experienced something unexpected and terrifying.

"It was a scream that, as a parent, you knew something really bad had happened," Kim Hinton said.

The dog jumped, and soon closed his jaw around Jack's neck, resulting in deep puncture wounds in addition to a torn muscle.

"And as Jack walked up, I never even saw Jack approaching, I just saw a dog jump to my right, and the next thing I know, he had his teeth in Jack's neck," Jon Hinton said.

After surviving the initial ordeal, Jack was given 40 stitches and underwent several surgeries.

Concerned that the Akita is still on the street, John and Kim are now saying the LAPD says they are unable to help.

"We expressed our concerns that an animal that size, (the owner) lives right next to a park, that we prefer the animal to be put down," John said. "If I wasn't next to my son, both the plastic surgeons at the hospital felt that the bites could have been more severe or been fatal. There's nothing the LAPD would do, or the police department, unless my son died."

According to a watch commander at LAPD's North Hollywood division, the department would be unable to do anything about the animal, even if the boy had died, unless the owner ordered the attack.

A representative for Animal Services, which has looked into the case, says that it has been passed along to an officer at the East Valley Care Center.

According to the Hintons, however, they have been told that the case has been closed, on account that the dog did not have any previously reported attacks.

"All you could really do is sue the owner of the animal in hopes your children don't have nightmares the rest of their life," John said.