4-year-old boy attacked by pit bull on Staten Island

WEST BRIGHTON (WABC) -- A little boy is recovering after he was attacked by a neighbor's pit bull on Staten Island.

It happened Thursday night on Campbell Avenue in the West Brighton section.

With lacerations to his face and puncture wounds to his head, little 4-year-old Jayden Zweifach took the brunt of a vicious dog attack.

"To see a dog on top of your son and shaking him...I wish it was me. That it was me that the dog bit," said Sanmiguel Zweifach, the victim's father.

It happened so fast. Sanmiguel was steps away from his son when the dog, described as a pit bull, bolted from a first floor rear apartment and into the backyard where Jayden and several other children were playing.

"I picked him up, and when I picked him up the dog came toward me. When I picked him up the dog came and attacked me, that's when I fell," Zweifach said.

Bloodied from the attack, Jayden was scooped up by his father and rushed to the hospital.

"His whole right face is pretty swollen. It's black and blue. There are lacerations to his face and punctures to the back of his head," said Michelle Monteleone, the victim's mother.

Jayden's mother says he is undergoing plastic surgery to close his wounds. She also says the dog had shown previous signs of being aggressive.

"When anybody walks past he outside of the house, it tries to get out of the window and attack," Michelle Monteleone said.

Back at the house there are several beware of dog signs posted. The dog was taken by Animal Control. The owner was not at home, but Jayden's grandfather Steven Monteleone is worried it could happen again if the dog is returned.

"Possibly this dog is going to come back to the residence. I really don't think he should. He's a danger to the whole family, the whole building," said Steven Monteleone, the victim's grandfather.

"It's going to stay with him mentally. I don't know I just can't, I can't see my baby like that," Michelle Monteleone said.

The vicious attack has traumatized this family and left this little boy injured and frightened.