6-year-old girl seriously wounded in dog attack at her babysitter’s Minnesota home

Three dogs attacked and seriously wounded a 6-year-old girl in her babysitter’s home in southwestern Minnesota, officials said Thursday.

The attack occurred on Jan. 26 at a residence in Ghent, about 6 miles northwest of Marshall, said Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen.

An online fundraising campaign started to help the family with medical expenses said Zoey Winter was admitted to a Sioux Falls hospital after she “suffered multiple bite wounds on her arm, sides, and legs, but most importantly, she sustained severe injuries to her right ear.”

The sheriff said the dogs’ owner brought the animals with her while visiting the babysitter’s home.

Wallen said the “pit bull or pit-bull mix breed dogs” were removed from the home, placed in quarantine at a kennel in Marshall and declared dangerous on Jan. 27. He said the dogs' owner, a 43-year-old woman from Ghent, has 14 days from the start of the declaration to appeal the designation.

The sheriff said investigative reports are being sent to the County Attorney’s Office for the consideration of charges. Wallen declined to identify the dogs' owner before a charging decision was made.

“Her mother, Casey, was at work when the attack happened, but she has not left Zoey’s side since,” the online campaign read. “With Casey needing to take time off work to care for her daughter, and Zoey being out of school for the foreseeable future, this has placed an enormous emotional and financial burden on their family.”