Teen [boy hero] saves child from dog attack

By DEON HAMPTON World Staff Writer
4/13/2008
Last Modified: 4/15/2008 11:52 AM

The 5-year-old apparently scaled a 6-foot fence and entered a yard containing pit bulls.

A Tulsa teen saved a child who was being attacked by a pair of pit bulls Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Cody Phillips, 17, was cleaning the garage when he heard his mother scream, “They’re attacking him.”

“Him” was a 5-year-old boy who had wandered into a neighbor’s yard.

Phillips, a Union High School student, rushed to the child’s aid, scaring the dogs away.

“He’s a hero,” said Sgt. Jeff Davis.

Tulsa police responded to a dog-bite call in the 3700 block of 142nd East Ave. at 4 p.m., Davis said.

The boy, whose identity wasn’t released, sustained multiple bites on his head and legs, officers said.

He was taken to a nearby hospital in good condition, Davis said.

Apparently, the boy, who lives two homes from Phillips, climbed over a 6-foot fence and into an adjacent yard where the two dogs were, police said.

Officers shot and killed one of the dogs, Davis said.

The other was taken to Tulsa Animal Shelter where quarantine tests for rabies will be conducted, he said.

If the tests are positive, the boy will have to undergo a series of rabies shots, Davis said.

Phillips and his mother, Shannon Ash, were cleaning the garage when Ash heard the boy screaming from next door.

Phillips rushed from the garage and jumped over his neighbor’s fence to help the boy, Ash said.

“Blood was all over his head and legs,” Phillips said.

“I was running so fast that I spooked the dogs and they ran in an opposite direction,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for Phillips, the child would have sustained more injuries,” Davis said.

Davis said the dogs’ owners are out of town and won’t immediately be issued any citations.

However, authorities said the owners could potentially be cited if animal control officers discover that the dogs have a history of being vicious.

The owners could also be cited if no one was taking care of the dogs while they were away, Davis said.