Garden City man mauled by stray dog, nearly loses eye

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WARNING: The images you are about to see are graphic.

A Garden City man attempting to help a stray dog ends up getting attacked. He nearly lost an eye.

But he said he still hopes the dog gets rescued and one day, adopted.

Justin Parker says at first the dog was nice and appeared to be lost, then it turned on a dime.

"It wasn't the dog's fault," said Parker. "It was my own for not being as cautious as I should have."

Parker was waiting outside a friend's house Wednesday when the seemingly friendly large dog, came around the corner and right up to him.

"It came up pretty nice, it let me pet it," he said. "The only time it reacted was when I tried to look for a collar and tags."

When he knelt down, the dog lunged at him, biting the top of his head and barely missing his eye.

"I'm just holding my face bleeding," he said. "I had to get it off somehow so I just ended up hitting it, trying to get it to let its jaw go."

Justin says his memory is spotty from the trauma. He doesn't remember if the dog had a collar or tags.

"I'm trying to remember if it was a darker or lighter color," he said. "The most I can remember is it was big and it was soft."

The attack happened on Belton Street off Ford Road near Inkster Road. The dog hasn't been seen since.

"Don't try and approach it unless you absolutely know for a fact whose dog it is and that the dog is okay with you," he said. "Because something like this isn't something that should happen to other people."

Justin is an advocate for abused and neglected animals. And he even has a dog who was found abandoned in a drug house.

He says there's a difference between vicious and traumatized animals, and maybe this one deserves a second chance.

"Yes I believe that it should find a shelter or somewhere that takes care of dogs really well," he said. "And hopefully find it a family so it doesn't have to be in that kind of mode again."

There is not an animal control or shelter in Garden City, but police here, are keeping an eye out for this dog.