FIRST IN THE CHRONICLE: Boy bitten by dog at Balloon Fest; owner not yet identified

Chronicle Staff Writer Zander Frost reports: A 3 year-old boy was reportedly bitten by what was described as a “greyish brown pitbull boxer mix” at the Adirondack Balloon Festival Saturday evening, September 21, at Warren County Airport.

Tyler Ennis told The Chronicle that Trent is his stepson and is recovering well. “He’s a tough little guy.” Mr. Ennis’s girlfriend, Emily Matuszczak, is Trent’s mother.  They live in Gansevoort.

Warren County Sheriff Jim LaFarr told The Chronicle Sunday, “We did respond to a child bit by a dog during the festival yesterday. The child and parent are identified. The dog and owner have not. We are still investigating.”

Mr. Ennis said the owner of the pitbull took the dog and left the scene while Trent received medical treatment.

Mr. Ennis said it’s crucial to find and identify the dog owner to get the vaccination records to hopefully avoid a set of rabies shots.

“He’s three years old. Grown people say getting those rabies shots are terrible,” Mr. Ennis said. “It’s gonna be a whole traumatic experience.”

Mr. Ennis described the dog as a “greyish brown pitbull boxer mix named Zara.” He described the owner as “white female with dark hair and a white shirt.”

“Trent really loves dogs,” Mr. Ennis said. “He always says to us…can I ask to pet the dog? I’m always like, you can ask, but if they say no, then you can’t.”

He said in this case, “he went up and asked the lady, she was like, ‘oh, yeah, absolutely, he can pet. She’s friendly.’”

“As soon as he touched the dog, the dog snapped, bit him right in the face,” Mr. Ennis said.

At first, “we thought she might have just snapped at him,” Mr. Ennis said. “He was crying. We thought the dog had just scared him.”

But instead, “He’s like ‘no, my eye hurts, my eye hurts,’” Mr. Ennis said. “That’s when Emily took his hand away and noticed that there’s blood all over his face.”

“I couldn’t see how bad it was at first, until she picked him up, and the light hit him,” Mr. Ennis said.

“And I just snatched him, I started sprinting towards the paramedics,” he said. “We didn’t think about staying with the lady or whatnot, because it was just immediate fight or flight mode — he didn’t know if it hit his eye.”

While Trent was being treated, he said Warren County Sheriff’s deputies asked him to bring them to the dog owner.

“I ran back over there with the cops, and the lady was obviously gone,” Mr. Ennis said. “People came up and were like, ‘we tried to prevent her from leaving, but she wouldn’t listen.”

They “looked all over” but couldn’t find her, Mr. Ennis said.

Mr. Ennis said he’s been in repeated contact with the Warren County Sheriff’s department.

The Adirondack Balloon Festival prohibits dogs.