Melinda Feeny, right, pulls back the hair of her daughter, Mattanyah Feeny, to show some of the wounds Mattanyah suffered when she was attacked by a neighbor’s dog. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – Parents of a four-year-old girl who was mauled by a neighbor’s dog last week in Warsaw said they believe the animal should be euthanized.

The girl, Mattanyah Feeny, suffered injuries that required a combination of staples and stitches to close gashes on her head after she was attacked by a next door neighbor’s full-grown dog, believed to be an Akita.

She also has other bruises and scrapes, including a scrape across her right eyelid.

The attack happened around 7 p.m. Friday, June 10, in Shamrock Village Mobile Home Park, according to Mattanyah’s mother, Melinda Feeny.

Warsaw Police said the incident is still under investigation. The dog is currently being quarantined for 10 days until a decision is made about the dog’s future.

Melinda said the incident happened after Mattanyah went next door to see if one of the kids could come outside.

According to Melinda, the girl walked up to the dog, petted it on the head and then stepped up to the door when the dog turned around and attacked her.

Melinda said she had left to pick up some fast food when it happened and learned about it in a phone call from her husband, Trent, who was inside at the time. She said a good friend was nearby, heard Mattanyah screaming and tried to distract the dog in hopes it would let go of Mattanyah. 

After the dog clamped down on her head, she said she was told it flipped her body around “like a rag doll.”

The dog was tethered at the time, she said.

Melinda said Mattanyah has since had anxiety attacks, memory loss and is terrified of her own family’s two dogs.

She said they’re seeking counseling to help with Mattanyah’s emotional state.

She contacted InkFreeNews saying she wants to see the dog euthanized and said she doesn’t care what the owners think.

“If it had not been for my best friend and my husband, my daughter would not be here today,” Melinda Feeny said.

The dog is owned by Jim and Ginni Hyde, who live just north of the Feeny’s mobile home.

Ginni Hyde said she believes authorities will eventually seek to put the dog down. She said neighborhood kids have been told not to enter their yard when the dog is outside.

“They have been told time and time again to stay out of the yard,” Ginni said.

“It’s a (expletive) thing that happened and now my dog has to pay the price for it,” she said.