5-year-old Bluffton boy treated for fractured skull after neighbor’s dog bites him

A 5-year-old Bluffton boy’s skull was fractured when a neighbor’s dog bit him Thursday night in an Olde Towne Village home, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The boy had gone to the neighbor’s house to play Legos with his friend and as they started walking up the stairs, the dog bit him on the face, the report said.

The boy was treated at Hilton Head Hospital for non life-threatening injuries, including lacerations on the right side of his face and above his right eye, two puncture wounds, and a fractured skull, the report said. He was transferred to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah for additional treatment of the the skull fracture.

The dog’s owners were not at home during the time of the incident, the report said.

Leslie Mosier, an officer with Beaufort County Animal Shelter & Control, declined to comment on this specific incident, but said there’s a certain protocol an animal goes through immediately after it bites a human.

Mosier said the dog is quarantined for 10 days with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

If it’s up-to-date on its shots and is released after the 10-day period, animal control deems the dog “dangerous.” If that happens, the owners must complete certain requirements within 72 hours, including putting a sign on the dog’s kennel or their house saying it’s a dangerous animal. The owners must also carry at least $50,000 worth of animal liability insurance for the dog.