A cop’s pet pit bull attacked a child twice. Now a MS Coast neighborhood lives in fear.

Chris McLarty is scared to step into his front yard.

The 12-year-old child has twice been attacked by a pit bull that lives only a few houses down in the Gulf Park Estates community of Jackson County. The second attack almost cost Chris the lower part of his right leg.

Chris and his parents are upset because the dog, a pit bull named Trash Can, has not been euthanized.

Instead, after the second attack the Jackson County Board of Supervisors declared Trash Can a “vicious dog” under its animal control ordinance. Trash Can must be confined at all times when home, and leashed and muzzled when he leaves the home of his owner, part-time Moss Point Police Officer Raymond Lias.

Lias denies that Trash Can is vicious and has gone to some lengths to keep the animal.

Supervisor Randy Bosarge, who represents the area, said that he and Joe Barlow, director of the county animal shelter, are working to strengthen the county’s dog ordinance. Bosarge said he does not believe a dog owner should be able to keep their dog after a second biting incident.

Referring to Lias, Chris’ father, Bill McLarty said: “There’s a guy that’s supposed to be a protector of the community who has a dog that hurts children and I can’t do anything about it. It’s very frustrating.”

The attacks have other neighbors who live near Lias and the McLartys frightened and angry, but they don’t want to speak up.

One of the neighbors, who did not want his name used for fear of repercussions, said: “What happened to Bill McLarty’s son is horrible and I hate to see it happen again, and with school being out it bothers me deeply that this could happen again.”

Details of dog attacks on MS Coast child

Chris said he was walking along the street the first time Trash Can attacked him on Jan. 1. The dog was loose outside the house, he said.

Trash Can barked, then charged, Chris said. Trash Can bit him on the legs and behind. He had to go to the emergency room, have puncture wounds sealed and bandaged, and get loose stitches in one large gash that needed to drain.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department responded when Bill McLarty reported the attack. According to the investigative report, Lias said he had just walked outside with the dog. He said he retrieved Trash Can and took him inside after Chris was bitten.

Lias quarantined the dog at home, as instructed, and was then contacted by animal shelter personnel. Trash Can’s rabies shots were up to date. Bill McLarty said that Lias assured animal control officers the dog would be kept confined and not allowed to run loose outside.

Chris had gotten the bandage off his leg about a week before the second attack on Feb. 18. He was walking down the road with a friend when he heard a low growl. Trash Can, he said, came charging off his owner’s front porch. Chris ran, but the dog bit into his right leg, tearing off half his calf.

Lias claimed Trash Can was tethered on the front porch but broke free. However, the report from the Sheriff’s Department noted the tether, attached to a front porch column, did not appear to be damaged.

After the second attack, Chris spent five days at Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile. His recovery was excruciating. In addition to suffering severe pain, when he returned home, he had to sleep for about 10 weeks in a recliner with a negative-pressure vacuum machine to drain his wound. He had nine surgeries and missed almost 90 days of school.

The wound has finally closed, but doctors say he could have a permanent limp. Part of his calf is noticeably missing and his foot swells from the loss of an artery in his leg.

He’s been in physical therapy and is also seeing a therapist for post-traumatic stress disorder, his father said. Chris said that he can’t bring himself to visit a store or restaurant where dogs are allowed, even though they are leashed.

“I can’t even go in Walmart,” Chris said. “It’s bad.”

What law says about vicious dogs, attacks

After the second bite, the McLarty’s filed a lawsuit against Lias and his wife in Jackson County Circuit Court. They are asking for no less than $500,000 in damages for what the lawsuit says was the Liases’ negligence and reckless disregard for the safety of others. Lias knew, or should have known, that Trash Can was dangerous before the second attack, says the lawsuit, filed by William Bedwell of the Lott Law Firm in Pascagoula.

The Liases say in their response to the lawsuit that Trash Can is a “family pet” and deny the dog is “aggressive or vicious.” Lias could not be reached to comment on the dog attacks and his attorney, NeShondria “Shon” Ellerby of Ellerby Law in Moss Point, did not respond to a voice message the Sun Herald left Thursday afternoon.

Mississippi does not have a vicious or dangerous dog law. Instead, it is one of 14 states with a one-bite rule established through court cases. This rule applies in civil cases where owners are sued over dog attacks for monetary damages.

If the dog has never bitten anyone, the rule goes, the owner can’t be held liable because they had no reason to suspect the dog was dangerous.

Jackson County and other localities in the state have their own laws addressing vicious or dangerous dogs. The county’s law does not require a dog to be permanently confiscated or euthanized, even after a second attack.

Instead, the ordinance requires an owner to take precautions when a dog has been declared vicious. Most owners voluntarily surrender dogs that have been declared vicious, Animal Shelter director Barlow said. He said owners rarely try to meet all the requirements needed to keep a vicious dog.

But Lias, Barlow said, met the requirements in the ordinance. He has installed a secure enclosure for Trash Can inside the fenced back yard and posted “beware of dog” signs on the outside of the wooden privacy fence. And Lias understands that Trash Can must be muzzled and leashed when he is taken anywhere.

Lias also provided an insurance policy that covers the dog. Barlow said he has a copy of the policy and the animal shelter will be notified if it lapses for any reason.

An owner who violates the law for keeping vicious dogs can be charged with a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

Barlow and Supervisor Barton said they will work to strengthen the law. Barton wants a law that says, “After the first bite, you’re done” and wouldn’t get your dog back.

The McLartys are stunned that Trash Can has not been euthanized.

“We’d like to see some sort of law change that would effectively prevent something like this from happening again because, at this point, the dog that did this to my son is living right there on that corner,” McLarty said. “And it’s one broken board away from happening to somebody else.

“We’ve got far too many children that live in the community and moms with strollers walking around. It scares me.”