FALL RIVER — A 1-year-old girl was taken to a Providence children's hospital after a pit bull bit her head and leg at her father’s house Monday morning, according to police.

The girl was bitten after her father, a 21-year-old Fall River resident, opened the screen door to his apartment in the 500 block of North Underwood Street to let his girlfriend's dog inside, said Detective John Robinson.

The girl’s father was unaware that his child was leaning on the door, Robinson said. The child fell forward when the screen door opened, and the dog bit her head, according to the detective.

A concerned citizen who lives on Stewart Street noticed the incident and rushed over to help, said Robinson. The woman and the child's father pried the dog off the child, who was bitten on her head and leg.

The child was first transported to Charlton Memorial Hospital, then later brought to Hasbro Children’s Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening lacerations.

The dog's owner told police her pet was around the girl in the past and had not harmed her, said Robinson.

Animal Control assumed custody of the dog and will hold it for a mandatory 10-day period, according to Robinson. The dog may be released if it does not have a contractible disease or involvement in another incident during that period.

One day before the child was bitten, on Sunday afternoon, another Fall River resident was bitten by a different pit bull while walking his Shih Tzu in the area of 657 Plymouth Ave., said Robinson.

Fall River police officer Thomas Faris was patrolling the area at about 1:45 p.m. when he saw a dog jumping on a man who appeared to be holding an object in his arms.

Faris approached the man, 34, and saw he was holding his pet Shih Tzu while spinning to protect his pet from a pit bull, which managed to latch onto the 18-pound Shih Tzu, said Robinson.

Officer Faris sprayed pepper spray into the pit bull’s mouth, causing the dog to release its grip, Robinson said. The pit bull's owner told police he had rescued the dog from New York, and the incident Sunday was its first "public attack."

That dog was also subjected to Animal Control’s mandatory 10-day quarantine, according to Robinson.