Pitbull Attacks 6-Year-Old In Courtyard Of NH Condo Complex

LONDONDERRY, N.H. (CBS) - Six-year-old Sarah Stewart was playing with friends in the courtyard of her Londonderry, New Hampshire condominium complex Sunday evening when she went to grab a bottle of bubbles on the front stoop of a neighbor's house.

"I was trying to get a big thing of bubbles, I slipped on the leash and I fell on the dog and he started attacking me," said the little girl, who is back at home.

Sarah had tripped over a leash and fell on top of her neighbor's dog, a pit bull named Oliver.

"I heard a lot of screaming," said Sarah's father Greg who was inside his house. He ran outside and found a large chunk of skin had been ripped from his daughter's forehead above her left eye. A neighbor drove father and daughter to the emergency room.

The dog's owner, who asked that her name not be reported, says she is close to the family and is devastated by the attack.

"I love kids, I love the neighborhood," said Oliver's owner. "It's like not even real to me right now."

But she does say her pit bull has attacked before; it bit a dog belonging to a different neighbor.

"Well he bit the neighbor's dog because her dog was running loose on my porch with no leash," said the woman.

Despite Sunday's gruesome attack, the neighbors remain friends, but both agree Oliver cannot come back.

"We love everybody, everybody gets along, but a pit bull in a common area with all kids, it's just not right," said Greg Stewart.

Londonderry Police tell WBZ-TV the dog is under quarantine and investigators are waiting to see if the dog is up to date on its vaccinations for rabies.

They say the owners will likely not face charges because the dog was on a leash.

Stewart says his daughter has several stitches and will need plastic surgery.