Boy, 4, Needs Leg Amputated After Attack By His Father's Police Dog

HESPERIA (CBSLA.com) — Doctors had to amputate the leg of a 4-year-old boy after the child was attacked by a dog living in the Hesperia home.

The dog in question was identified by KCAL9's Crystal Cruz as Jango, a take-home police dog.

She said the dog has since been removed from the home of the Rialto police officer, although it remains unclear whether the dog will be euthanized.

Cruz said neighbors are being credited with saving the boy's life.

On Sunday, they heard screams from the back yard of the home.

"My sister told me to run over there and see what it was, and I ran and I saw this little kid he was getting chewed up, his leg, by a dog," "Anthony," a neighbor, said.

"Anthony" and another neighbor broke down the home's side fence and pulled the officer's son out from the dog's mouth.

"Honestly, I wasn't scared. It was more of his life, you know, he's a little boy. He has more to live," he said.

"I kicked the dog as hard as I could. It still didn't release him, so I grabbed him by the mouth," another neighbor said.

Police said the officer was upstairs changing clothes, his son was downstairs playing games, and the dog was in the back yard.

Cruz reports that the boy apparently went outside to look for his mother, who wasn't home, when the dog attacked for reasons unknown.

The officer remains on the job as authorities investigate, Cruz said.