Group of dogs attack 7-year-old girl while mom tries to fight them off, family says
.png "A 7-year-old girl is recovering after police and family say she was attacked by a group of dogs walking home from a school bus stop.")
A 7-year-old girl is recovering after police say she was attacked by a group of dogs while walking home in Minnesota, news outlets report.
Sumaya Farah got off the school bus on Feb. 8 in St. Paul and was walking home with her mom, according to KARE.
That’s when police say a group of dogs appeared from a nearby yard and attacked the girl, KMSP reported.
“The dogs had got her on the face, on her nose, the side of her face, her ears, the other side of her face, her thigh,” her brother Abdi Ali Ahmed told KSTP.
Sumaya’s mom fought the dogs off for several minutes, the family said, but they kept attacking, KARE reported.
“Every time mom would try to catch, to stop one of the dogs, another dog would jump in and take over. It’s just only a mom and her daughter, so it’s very tough for her to have done anything,” Ahmed told KMSP.
Normally, Sumaya’s sister would be walking home with her and their mom, but she was recovering from heart surgery, according to KARE.
“She doesn’t think she could have been able to save both of them yesterday,” Ahmed, who was translating for his mother Sacadiya Farah, told KARE. “She doesn’t know how she’s going to be able to live with these dogs if they’re not caught.”
A good Samaritan saw the attack and jumped out of his car to help, KSTP reported. Then, the dogs ran off.
“Sumaya was injured and had pieces of nose, ear, and thigh bitten off. The doctors were able to stitch together the best they could,” a GoFundMe page said.
She was taken to a hospital and is recovering with non-life-threatening injuries, KMSP reported.
Five dogs were involved in the attack and have been surrendered to St. Paul Animal Control, police told KSTP.
This story was originally published February 11, 2024 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Group of dogs attack 7-year-old girl while mom tries to fight them off, family says."
