Kids removed after dog bites 4-year-old boy

Saturday, July 24, 2010
Kids removed after dog bites 4-year-old boy
By ALBERT McKEON
Staff Writer

NASHUA – A 4-year-old boy suffered a serious lip injury after a family pit bull bit him, police said.
While responding to the dog bite Friday morning, police and city officials discovered unsanitary living conditions at the 102 Ledge St. residence, police Lt. Jeffrey Bukunt said.
As a result, the boy and his two young siblings were removed from the home and placed in the care of relatives, Bukunt said.
A city code enforcement official ordered the house vacated because of the unsanitary conditions, Bukunt said.
The boy suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries when an adult pit bull, one of two dogs the family has owned for only about a week, bit him, Bukunt said.
The injury appeared to be isolated to the boy’s upper lip, but is extensive, Bukunt said. He was initially treated at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, then transferred to Children’s Hospital Boston.
The bite was reported to police at around 9:45 a.m. The mother and her other two children were home, but the children’s father was not, Bukunt said.
The family has two pit bulls, the adult and a puppy, he said. The dogs are now in the custody of the Humane Society for Greater Nashua.
The human society is conducting tests for rabies. Once the tests are complete, and if the dogs are deemed healthy, a Nashua Police animal control officer will determine whether the dogs should be returned to the owners, Bukunt said.
Bukunt declined to specify the conditions that prompted a city Health Department officer to deem the home unsanitary.
The unsanitary nature of the home was an issue separate from the Code Enforcement officer discovering that a basement apartment was being built at the 102 Ledge St. home without a permit, Bukunt said.
The boy and his family lived in the main section of the home while construction was underway downstairs, he said.
It’s unclear who owns the residence, Bukunt said. He wasn’t sure whether the parents are owners or tenants.
City assessment records list David and Veronica Clark, of Nashua, as the owners of the residence.
No criminal charges will be filed, but the owner and the occupants could be cited for code violations, Bukunt said.
The state Division for Children, Youth & Families handled the transfer of custody of the three children from the parents to relatives, Bukunt said.
This is at least the second discovery this month of an illegal basement apartment in a home after a police response. The city learned of an illegal apartment in the basement of 2 Morningside Drive after a long police standoff involving a home invasion.
Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or amckeon@nashuatelegraph.com.

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