EHRHARDT – The vicious attack of an 8-year-old boy by a dog on Oct. 8 has prompted Ehrhardt Town Council to begin the process of enacting a leash law.

Carson Zorn is now safe at home recovering from the canine attack that almost ripped off his ear.

Carson and several of his friends were playing in his yard on Oct. 8 when a mixed breed dog came onto the property and attacked him, said Gordon Walling, Carson’s grandfather.

“From what we can piece together, the other boys were familiar with the dog, and they ran. Carson didn’t, and it jumped on him,” Walling said.

Fortunately for the child, a truck driver from Mississippi drove by in the nick of time.

“I was coming through town and saw three boys playing,” trucker Adra Boyd said. “When I first saw them, I thought the dog was just playing with them. He was just standing up. But by the time I stopped my truck, he had the child on the ground. It all happened so fast.”

Boyd said he jumped from his truck and ran toward Carson, yelling at the dog. The dog let go of the boy, and the child got up and ran into the house, he said.

“It was one of those moments you just can’t pass up. The only thing I could think about was it could be one of mine,” said Boyd, who has four children of his own. “I hope someone would do the same thing for mine.”

Boyd said he watched the dog for a few minutes after the attack to try to see where it went. Then he went to Carson’s home but the child’s mother had already rushed him to the hospital, he said.

The truck driver said he rode around town with Ehrhardt Police Chief Jim Preacher but the two were unable to locate the dog.

Walling says many people might have ridden by and not even seen what was going on.

“The driver was a hero, an angel, and God had him there for a reason,” Walling said. “We are so thankful for the grace of God. Just another 15-20 seconds, and it could have been fatal.”

Carson’s mom, Ginny Walling Zorn, took him to the Bamberg hospital, where he was stabilized before being taken to Providence Richland Children’s Hospital.

God was again looking out for his grandson, Walling said.

“A Dr. Atkins, who had already done some work for Carson, was on duty, and he knows Carson,” Walling said. “He said to bring him on in. He operated on Carson till after midnight.”

Although it was a harrowing experience for a few days, Carson is making a remarkable recovery, his grandfather says. There may be some nerve damage to Carson’s face, but the doctors will not be able to tell until the swelling goes down, he said.

Walling says he’s convinced Carson did not provoke the dog.

“He’s not been taught to be mean to animals,” he said.

In response to the incident, Ehrhardt Town Council held an emergency session on Oct. 12 to create an ordinance dealing with stray dogs, Mayor William “Billy” Stanley said.

“We held first reading on an ordinance to deal with vicious and strange dogs,” Stanley said.

“It defines dogs (as pets or strays) and requires identification in the future,” the mayor said. “Dogs will have to wear a collar with name and address and a tag issued by the town as well as a rabies tag. That way, we can get a handle on what dogs are pets and what dogs are problems.”

The dog that attacked Carson had been around a while, according to Stanley.

“I understand people had been feeding him,” he said. “Nobody had called the town and said it was a vicious dog. We never had a complaint about this one being vicious.”

According to the police report, Preacher questioned several boys who admitted to hitting the dog with sticks and rakes, etc. There have also been allegations that the dog had been trained to fight, the report said. The incident it still under investigation, Preacher said.

The second reading of the leash ordinance will be held Tuesday, Oct. 20.

T&D Correspondent Dale Linder-Altman can be reached by e-mail at jerryanddale@lowcountry.com. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.