Man seriously injured in attack by relative's dog
Police searched neighbours' gardens for the dog after the attack
- Published
A man has been seriously injured after being attacked by a dog belonging to a family member.
South Wales Police said it received reports of "an incident involving a man and a dog" at Blair Way in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, at about 07:00 BST on Monday.
A 24-year-old, who police said was a relative of the animal's owner, suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
The dog - believed to be a pit bull or Staffordshire bull terrier - was sedated and taken away from the scene and an investigation has been launched.
Blood was seen on a nearby fence
A neighbour told 大象传媒 Wales said the animal was a "pitbull-type dog" that had been "rescued about seven months ago".
"I saw seven or eight police cars at least here. There were armed police here searching for the dog.
"My door was getting banged at 07:30, police wanted to check our back gardens. They told us to stay inside."
The neighbour, whose house backs on to the nearby field, which is part of St Joseph's Junior School, pointed to bloodstained marks on a fence and gate.
"I thought it might be the dog鈥檚 blood but the boy鈥檚 brother arrived and told me it was the boy's. He鈥檚 in a bad way," she said.
"They don鈥檛 live here, they were walking the dog in the field when it happened."
A second neighbour said: "I saw a police man with a gun walking past my window, searching for the dog."
Neighbours said the attack happened in a field off Blair Way, which is part of the nearby school
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: 鈥淲e were called on today at 7:14am to reports of an incident at Nobel Avenue, Port Talbot.
鈥淲e sent one emergency ambulance to the scene.
鈥淎dvanced critical care support was delivered by the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service in a Wales Air Ambulance charity helicopter.
鈥淥ne person was taken by road to hospital.鈥