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TATE COUNTY, Miss. — A 17-month-old toddler had to undergo plastic surgery and tear duct surgery after his family says he was mauled by a chocolate lab Thursday in Tate County, MS.

Some of the images you see may be disturbing. 

Ethan Hawk Lane Jr.’s mother tells us she was visiting her grandparents when she left her son in a room briefly.

When she came back, she walked in to him screaming.

“I came back in the house, and I heard a bang and him crying. I went down the hallway and saw blood on the door and the floor,” Ethan’s mother, Selena Mejia said.

She said she initially thought Ethan fell, but officers and doctors told her his injuries came from dog bites.

The chocolate lab who bit Ethan is supposed to be locked in a room when the owner, a family member, is not there.

“I did not know the owner was not there until after when I was screaming for help in the house,” she said.

A neighbor, who says she has been chased by the dog twice before, will never forget the sounds of Ethan’s cries.

“When I looked in he was screaming and hollering. It was not a good sight,” neighbor Joiya Scott said.

Ethan’s parents called the dog’s actions “out of control.”

“The day after the accident, when we got released from the hospital, the dog tried to bite us but ended up biting her grandfathers wife who was trying to attempt to put the dog back into the room. It just shows this has to be taken care of,” Ethan’s father said.

His parents are concerned, because the dog has not been tested for rabies just yet. But a neighbor tells WREG police came by Sunday night to pick up the dog for quarantine. However, Ethan’s parents say they have not been contacted.

Ethan’s grandmother tells us the dog belongs to her father’s brother-in-law, and that Tate County authorities refused to pick it up, telling them is was up to the owner to deal with it.

The sheriff and chief deputy haven’t responded to WREG’s request for comment.

Ethan’s family says he is going to be okay, but he has many stitches and a stint in his eyes.

He will have to have surgery to take the stent out.

His parents told us they filed a police report last week.

 

 

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