Mother speaking out after child bit by homeless person's dog at Grant Beach Park

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Springfield mother is now fighting for someone to take accountability after her daughter was bitten by a dog in Grant Beach Park.

One of the leaders of the Grant Beach Sports Committee confirmed it was a homeless woman's dog who bit the child.

"That's where the dog attacked her, and that's all her blood," said Alexis Gale, pointing out where her daughter was bitten on Thursday, July 17. "I mean, she dripped until she got to the car because it was just running down her face."

Gale says they were at a baseball game for her eldest child when her 5-year-old needed to use the restroom. They walked to the pavilion, and that's when the dog rushed out.

"A dog pretty much just charged after her and it got her to the ground and bit her in the eye," Gale said. "I got the dog off of her when she got up. I mean, there was just blood running down her face."

The dog bit part of her left eyelid. Luckily, the child didn't need stitches and won't have any vision problems.

"That animal, technically it was on a leash and I will say that, but the animal was unattended," Gale said.

When she contacted the Grant Beach Sports Committee, she was told there's not much they can do.

"I'm pretty much told I could either sue or let it go. And we're not going to let it go," Gale said.

One of the issues with enforcing safety at the park is manpower, according to Pauletta Dunn, the Vice President of Grant Beach Neighborhood.

"This was an unfortunate incident," Dunn said. "We've never had anything like this before. So we didn't know what to do, other than we called the police."

Dunn says there are only about three people leading the Grant Beach Sports Committee.

"We do the best that we can to keep people safe," Dunn said. "We don't ever want to put anybody in harm's way, but there's only so much we can do as far as reprimanding people."

Dunn added they "can't do anything with people being in the park because it's a public space."

Gale says her goal for the future is to see children better protected during events.

"I do understand that some people don't have anywhere to go, but I just feel like while our children are here and while we pay to have them here and doing something they love, that they need to be protected and that it needs to be cleaned up," Gale said.

She tells Ozarks First she doesn't plan on bringing her children back to Grant Beach Park. She says her daughter no longer wants to go to the park and is now afraid when she hears dogs barking.

"Because we're on the north side, we're looked down on and I don't want it to be like that," Gale said. "I fully support every person in this world. But I feel like our children come first over anybody."

Animal control confirmed a report was filed and the dog was taken in and is being monitored for signs of rabies.

Both Gale and Dunn mentioned that while Ozarks First was at the park filming that the homeless person whose dog belonged to was back again, with the dog's puppies.