Pit bulls maul boy in Vancouver

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, Wash. — A 13-year-old boy mauled by two pit bulls was in serious condition Friday after undergoing surgery to repair bite wounds to his neck and left arm.

Van L. Knudson, a seventh-grader at Frontier Middle School, was trying to get the animals into their kennel when they attacked him in the back yard of his home.

They bit his arm and neck before a family friend shot and killed them with a pistol.

The pit bulls, one male and one female, belonged to the boy’s aunt, Kelci Christianson, and had been kenneled at the home while she was looking for permanent housing. It wasn’t clear how the animals got loose, said Dennis Davidson, lead animal control officer for Clark County.

The family friend, Ron Ahlmquist, 33, keeps his work truck at the Knudson home. He arrived to pick up the truck shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday and saw one dog biting Van’s arm, Davidson said.

Ahlmquist started yelling at the dogs, and they turned on him. He jumped back into his vehicle, drove to the front door of the Knudson home and pounded on it. The boy’s parents handed Ahlmquist a 9 mm pistol.

Back outside, Ahlmquist saw the dogs had the boy down on the ground. One was biting his neck, Davidson said.

Ahlmquist yelled at the dogs from about 15 feet away.

"One of the dogs came after him, and he backed up about 10 feet or so and shot the dog," Davidson told The Columbian newspaper. The other dog then released the boy and rushed Ahlmquist, who shot it dead.

Davidson said he was aware of no previous problems with the dogs. The male was not neutered.

Knudson was first taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center, but because of the severity of his injuries he was transferred to Emanuel. He was upgraded from critical to serious condition Thursday night.

His mother, Victoria Knudson, said at Emanuel that the dogs had been living on her property about a month and that family members thought they were securely kenneled.

The case is being investigated by the sheriff’s office and animal control. No citations had been issued Friday, Davidson said.