An 11-year-old girl in Shawano County is being called a hero for potentially saving her two-year-old brother's life during a dog attack.
According to witnesses, the girl was walking down the street with her brother in the Village of Bowler Saturday when a pitbull allegedly attacked them. The girl was bitten four times after she put herself between her brother and the dog to protect him, according to deputies.
Deputies from the Shawano County Sheriff's Office were asked to respond to the attack, the department posted on Facebook. Because the closest deputy was not nearby, they requested Stockbridge Police help for a quicker response.
The dog first bit the girl and then went towards her brother. She yelled at the pitbull to take his attention away from her brother, according to the sheriff's office.
"Heroic, to think that quick and to immediately put her brother in a safe position, to put herself in jeopardy, that's unusual," said Daniel Weisensel with the Shawano County Sheriff's Department.
Witnesses were able to get the pitbull off the girl with a baseball bat, the sheriff's office explained. She was taken to a nearby hospital and treated.
"Her bravery may have saved her brother's life," the Shawano County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook.
The dog was already on quarantine for killing another dog earlier in the week and has since been euthanized by the owner.
The Shawano County Sheriff's Office is reminding dog owners to make sure their dog is always on a leash or contained within a fenced-in area or home.
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