Photo by Marco Verch via Creative Commons
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man repeatedly hit a dog with a nutcracker Christmas decoration to stop its attack on a 10-year-old neighbor, police said Sunday.
Leonard Miller, 88, of Perry Township, struck the animal multiple times until it let go of the child, The Canton Repository reported. The girl was transported to a hospital with severe injuries to her left arm, police said.
Miller said his 13-year-old neighbor knocked on his door and told him that a dog at their home was attacking her younger sister.
Miller said he rushed out the door and grabbed a nutcracker outside his neighbor’s home, which he used to hit the dog in the back.
“He had her arm and was shaking her like he would shake an animal or something,” Miller said.
When the dog released the child, Miller locked it in the house. He took the girls back to his home where he called an ambulance.
Perry Police Chief Mike Pomesky said the attack was unprovoked.
The girl’s mother told officers the dog belonged to a man who had been living in the residence, said Major C.J. Stantz, of the Stark County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said the 10-year-old girl’s condition was unknown Monday.