UPDATED: Mom of girl bitten pleads for privacy

LEBANON - The mother of the Lebanon girl mauled by two pit bulls in her own yard pleaded for privacy on Sunday, saying her 12-year-old daughter just wanted life to get back to normal.

Catherine Sargent, who lives at the 260 River Road address with her fiancée, the dogs’ owner, Rory Downs, said her daughter, Angel, who was bitten on her neck, shoulder and arms, used to love the two pit bulls but “she doesn’t anymore.”

She said TV stations from all over have been calling her and she has nothing to say to them. She added that Angel was doing fine after being treated and released from the hospital on Saturday when the attack by the two dogs named Jaeger and Meister occurred.

The attack began when the dogs jumped from a back-yard enclosure and began biting Angel, who was playing with her sister and a friend.

The girls had climbed onto a pickup truck in the yard to escape the animals when Adam Horr, 41, of Dover, who was visiting a neighbor in the area, heard the girls’ screams and ran to help. Horr, who was able to get the animals off by kicking them and hitting them with a broom, was also bitten. He was treated at the scene for dog bites.

The two other girls sustained cuts and bruises, but were not bitten, according to a press release from State Police spokesman Steve McCausland, who said Horr's intevention likely saved Angel's life.

McCausland said State Police will consult the District Attorney’s office to see if charges may be filed.

The two dogs were taken to the Kennebunk Animal Shelter where they will be quarantined since their rabies shots were found not up to date.

The dogs, both seven months old and raised in the home since puppies, had never exhibited aggressive behavior in the past, family members said.