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State Delegate Recovering After Pit Bull Mauling

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The minority leader of Maryland's House of Delegates is recovering after he was mauled and bitten by a pit bull over the weekend.

Nic Kipke, who's in an arm-sling and covered in bandages and claw and bite marks, says the attack left physical scars on him and emotional scars for his family, who  saw it happen.

He was walking in Pasadena with his wife, 2-year-old son in a stroller and their pet poodle Tucker, when out of nowhere, his neighbor's unleashed dog, lounged at him.

"A typical dog bite, you get puncture wounds. It looks like somebody took a chainsaw to my arm down to the bone," Kipke says.

The pit bull clamped down on Tucker's hind legs with his sharp teeth.

"Even though you think your dog is completely safe, you need to just always be extremely cautious,
Follow the law and secure your dog," he says.

Kipke's case is part of a bigger problem in Anne Arundel County where police say the number of dog attacks has been on the rise in recent years.

Animal control says in 2015 there were 1079 dog bites reported in the county. Which then jumped to 1099 cases in 2016. Many of the dogs involved were pit bulls.

Three years ago, pet owners succeeded in stopping the General Assembly from singling out the dog-breed as more dangerous than others.

In April, those efforts were reignited, after a french bulldog named Lilo was mauled to death by a neighbor's pit bull.

The Anne Arundel County Council voted to require officials to euthanize any animals deemed vicious.

Lilo's Law became official just days before the delegate and his dog were attacked.

"The nicest dog in the world can end up doing a really horrible thing," Kipke says.

The dog that attacked Kipke was turned over by it's owner and put down by animal control.

The delegate doesn't have any immediate plans for new dog laws.

As of June, there has been more than 500 dog attacks in Anne Arundel County this year.

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