11-Year-Old Football Player Hospitalized After Dog Pack Attack in Georgia

Banner O’Berry, an 11-year-old football player from Atkinson, Georgia, was injured when three stray dogs attacked him as he and a teammate attempted to repair a broken four-wheeler. One dog grabbed his ankle and pulled him away while the other two joined the assault, prompting Banner to use a pair of pliers to try to restrain one of the animals. The attack left him with 17 open wounds on his legs, requiring three and a half hours of surgery at Coffee Regional Medical Center.

After recovering, he attended a September 16 football game, cheering from a wheelchair. The trio of dogs, identified as a pit bull and two mixed-breed hound and terrier, have been taken into custody for a 10-day hold by the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office, which is seeking a court order to label them as vicious animals and has served paperwork to the owners.