Oklahoma City bBoy attacked by pit bull to undergo additional surgery

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An 11-year-old Atoka boy is scheduled for additional surgery on Sunday after he was attacked by a pit bull terrier, his family said. <br/><br/>Nick McMaster was at a relative's

Saturday, November 12th 2005, 4:05 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An 11-year-old Atoka boy is scheduled for additional surgery on Sunday after he was attacked by a pit bull terrier, his family said.

Nick McMaster was at a relative's home Thursday afternoon when the dog cornered him in the back yard.

The relative ``asked me to get a box,'' the middle school student said Friday from his Oklahoma City hospital bed. ``I went to find it, and I got too close, and that's when the dog got me.''

The dog, Lucky, was chained and inside a fence when he bit the boy, so Atoka police probably won't take action, Detective Capt. Mark Rains said Friday.

Other children have been bitten by pit bull terriers this year. A 9-year-old Atoka boy was bitten over the summer and a 3-year-old Moore boy lost his arm to a dog attack.

Nick McMaster's father, Daniel McMaster, said he wasn't sure how he felt about Rep. Paul Wesselhoft's proposal to ban pit bull terriers in Oklahoma until Thursday.

``After this, it's 100 percent, without a doubt,'' he said. ``I think they all need to be destroyed or something.''

Marlene McCabe, a member of the Tulsa chapter of the American Dog Breeders Association, opposes breed-specific dog bans, saying owners should take responsibility for their pets.

``You have to be responsible with any breed that you own, but with a pit bull you have to be more so, so to speak. It's not a dog for everyone. You have to know what you're doing and know what kind of dog you have.''

In his relative's back yard, Nick McMasters was able to break free from the attacking dog when his relative's neighbor, Freddie Stark, threw a rock and hit the animal. A police officer then pulled the boy over the fence and out of the yard.

The dog ripped out a chunk of the boy's leg ``about the size of your fist,'' his father said. The boy's fibula is broken.

He's having his second operation, his mother, Teresa Grimley, said.