The County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control patrolling Lancaster found an elusive stray dog that bit a young girl on the face just before Christmas. They are sharing its picture in the hopes that an owner will come forward.

On December 21 at about 8:30am, a 3 ½ year-old Lancaster girl was standing in her front yard on the 44000 block of 18th Street West in Lancaster, when this stray Pit Bull / Labrador mix dog ran onto the property and bit her in the face. The dog was scared off by an adult family member and the child rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

county Animal Control Director Marcia Mayeda said that several resources were directed at locating the dog, with success over the weekend.

“A team of county animal control officers were able to catch the dog over the weekend while it was heading back towards the desert from a local Lancaster neighborhood,” Mayeda stated. “Now that we’ve got the dog, it will be held under observation and hopefully its owner will come forward.”

“It’s important to report stray dogs in your neighborhood to minimize the public safety risk in the community,” said Danny Ubario, Shelter Manager for the Lancaster Animal Care Center. “We hope to meet our young bite victim soon so that she can be assured this dog is not running loose anymore, and to help her overcome any lingering anxiety she may be experiencing,” said Ubario.

Anyone with any information on this Lancaster area dog is asked to call Sgt. Chavez at the Lancaster Animal Care Center at (661) 974-8343.