A Buttermilk Acres pit bull mix has been home quarantined after biting a 7-year-old child on his way home from the bus stop Tuesday, in an incident that has the victim's mother accusing county animal control authorities of inadequate response time and failing to remove the dog from the area after her complaint.



The male pit bull mix has been placed under a 10-day home quarantine order by local animal control authorities. The dog reportedly went after a group of school children walking home from the bus stop with an adult yesterday, biting the yong boy.

The dog is licensed and current on its shots, including rabies. The quarantine is nonetheless a legal requirement because no vaccine is 100 percent effective.



According to Jocelin Quinton in a lengthy Facebook post, she was walking her two first-grade aged kids and three other children home from their school bus stop on Nov. 7 when her 7-year-old son was attacked and bitten by the neighbor's “very aggressive” pit bull. She said the dog escaped its yard and attacked her son. According to Quinton, the dog came after her and her 6-year-old daughter, who was behind her. She wrote her daughter “took her backpack off and was swinging it at the dog.”



Quinton wrote that the dog was eventually distracted and chased back into its yard. She reported her son was bitten on the leg and his shirt was torn. She said her son was lucky enough to fall face down with his backpack “covering and protecting his neck as the dog tried to bite him there.”



The incident occurred on North Clifford Street near the bus stop on Calvert and Ward. This is outside Ridgecrest city limits and thus under the jurisdiction of Kern County, a fact which may have complicated animal control response time.



The following chronology was pieced together using information from Quinton, Kern County Animal Services Director Nick Cullen, and Ridgecrest Animal Control Supervisor Mary Stage.



Apparently, Quinton called 911 and was put through to the Kern County Sheriff's Department, followed by Kern County Animal Service. Quinton complained online that the county Animal Services “did NOTHING,” but according to Cullen, the department responded by phone.



Kern County Sheriff's Deputy John Frisbie responded to the scene in person on Tuesday. According to Quinton, when Frisbie showed up at her house, the dog went after him and he had to roll up his vehicle window to protect himself.



Stage said Frisbie called dispatch from his car and Ridgecrest Animal Control was contacted to assist with the situation after it was determined that Kern County Animal Services would be unable to respond in a timely manner.



Stage said that when the Ridgecrest Animal Control officer arrived the owner's dogs were already secured. Stage said because the area is outside city jurisdiction her officer was limited in what she could do; she could not, for example, impound the dog. Stage said Ridgecrest Animal Control assisted as a courtesy, mainly to help protect the animal.



The pit bull mix that bit the 7-year-old was placed under home quarantine yesterday. Kern County Animal Services visited the house Wednesday and placed a “quarantine” sign in the window.



Quinton has been vocal online, asking repeatedly why the dog was allowed to remain in the neighborhood rather than being impounded and removed.



On a tape she posted on Facebook, she can be heard telling Frisbie she is dubious about the dog staying put and saying there is a hole in the owner's fence.



According to Cullen, animals are considered property and there is a high threshold for taking them from owners. He said animal services can impound a loose dog, but not one that is contained when animal control arrives—as was evidently the case in this instance.



“Our standard response when an animal bites a human — particularly when the animal is back in the residence — is to quarantine the dog on the property,” he said.



The exception, according to Cullen, is if there is evidence the animal did a lot of damage. In that case, animal control can get what is called a dangerous dog order and remove the dog.



This, however, would require evidence which Cullen said so far is lacking in this case.



Cullen said Kern County Animal Control had not received a photo, specific information about the severity of the bite or had victim contact proving the severity of the bite.



“If we get that information and determine it is a severe bite, we can move forward with that [dangerous dog order],” he said. Otherwise, the dog will be released from quarantine on Nov. 17.



At that point it will be up to the owner whether to keep the animal, re-home it, or have it euthanized, according to Stage.



According to Cullen and Stage, the owner has had no previous complaints on either that address or that dog.