Young Boy Mauled By Dog In Wilkinsburg

A young Wilkinsburg boy has more than 200 stitches and staples on his body after a dog attacked him.

Rocco Doman, 8, is out of the hospital and resting at home.

While visiting a neighborhood friend at a home on Elm Street Saturday, he was mauled by a 140-pound pit bull that somehow escaped a fenced yard next door.

"He did his best to fight him off but a little boy against a big dog, that's a Rocky Balboa story," said his father Tim Doman. "I say he's pretty lucky. Thank God he didn't grab his neck or something like that."

Rocco said he tried fighting off the animal. Finally, his friend's grandmother managed to pull off the dog. By that time, the little boy had bites from his head to his toe.

The child will require plastic surgery but it's the emotional scarring his family is worried about.

"I just know he's already having nightmares," said his father. "As a parent, that's something you really feel bad about."

Animal control took the dog and Wilkinsburg police are investigating.

The woman who was keeping the dog said she feels terrible about what happened but insisted she did nothing wrong since her goddaughter owns the animal.

The Doman family plans to hire an attorney and said they will fight to have the dog put down.