Five-year-old bitten by dog while playing

A stray dog wandered into a back yard this week and bit a boy as he played.

James High needed five stitches to close a bite wound on his leg.

“He’s really scared of dogs right now. He gets really nervous and shaky,” said his mother, Heather High.

James was playing Wednesday afternoon at his home near Euclid Avenue and Flora Road when a male Labrador mix wandered through the open garage and into the back yard. The lab latched onto the boy’s leg before the family’s St. Bernard scared it away.

The Labrador was found wandering nearby Thursday morning and was impounded by officers from Spokane County Regional Animal Care and Protection Services, known as SCRAPS. He’s being quarantined for 10 days. If no one comes to claim him in that time, he’ll be euthanized, said SCRAPS Director Nancy Hill.

If an owner is found, the Labrador will be deemed dangerous, Hill said.

SCRAPS officers have responded to a high number of bites this summer: 26 were reported in June and 16 more this month.

Hill said summer brings more people outside and people are more likely to let their dogs run unsupervised.

“It’s a recipe for tragedy, basically,” Hill said.

Luckily for James, the bite likely won’t have any long-term effects, said Heather High.

James got a tetanus shot and is taking antibiotics, High said.