WICHITA – A Wichita teenager is recovering after being bitten in the face by a Sedgwick County Sheriff K-9.
The dog got out of his enclosure Sunday night and was found hours later a couple of blocks away.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s put out a notification, but the family says they did not see it and took the dog in.
“I said, ‘Okay, fine. We will keep the dog overnight and take it to the humane society in the morning,’” says Coryinna Hill.
The dog, Bocephus, stayed with Hill and her family all night long sleeping with her 14-year-old son in the basement. There was no identification on the dog saying it was a sheriff’s K-9.
“He was friendly and was a non-aggressive dog,” she says.
That changed when her son took the dog to use the bathroom in the morning, and it did what a dog like that may do.
“As he reached down to let go of the leash, the dog bit him in the face and the back as he turned,” Hill says.
“Unfortunately, accidents happen and like I said it is very unfortunate that the young man was bitten, but I am not going to blame the dog,” says Hill.
The family says the sheriff’s office has been quite helpful in checking in on them but wonder if it all could have been prevented.
“Our concern to is how did the dog get out of its enclosure,” Hill says.
Right now, the sheriff’s office is doing an internal investigation. Bocephus will sit out for at least 10 days. The handler, as of now, facing no consequences.
“The investigation is still ongoing. We would not have any type of action taken on the dog. The dog is doing what it was trained to do,” Lt. Tim Myers says.
A local attorney explains the owner of the dog should be the one paying a consequence or at least a medical bill.
“Since the common law, it has been true that if a dangerous animal gets away the owner has to pay,” says Defense Attorney Dan Monnat.
Sheriff’s officials say they do not require the dogs to wear special ID, but could look into that procedure given the results of the investigation.
See the full story at KSN.com