BOSTON -- A child was rushed to a local hospital on Wednesday after she was attacked by a pit bull in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood.

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that a 3-year-old girl was attacked at her uncle's house at 15 Pond St.

"He was playing in the yard with the other little dog; she was in the yard playing. I guess she probably snuck up on him and he got distracted, and he turned around and snapped at her," the victim's uncle, Alexis Roman, said.

"Her eye was really bad, and there was a cut from her ear to the side of her cheekbone," witness Philip Hiltz said. "As soon as she touched him, (the dog) turned around and grabbed her by the head, shook her once and let her go, and then ran under the porch."

Roman said the dog, which belonged to his son, had never bit anyone before.

"The dog was taken away, my son's dog. He decided to give him up just to make sure nothing like that happens again, because we do have a bunch of kids coming and going in this house. He has always been around them, so it is kind of weird," Roman said.

But the mail carrier and neighbors told a different story.

"I'm not stupid enough to go up (to the house). I am not going there," the mail carrier said.

"The dog has been let loose quite a few times or has escaped from the pen they have. Plus, they have a little small dog also. When there is other people walking down the street here with their dogs, they literally attack the other dog -- not biting it or anything, but just not letting it move," neighbor Collette Jackson said.

Roman said the girl was bit on the face and arm and was taken to Boston Children's Hospital.

The dog's owner was cited for having an unlicensed dog without a muzzle, not having a license for the dog and the dog not being leashed or vaccinated. There are no current rabies inoculations for the dog on record with the city, Animal Control said.

Animal Control said the dog was put down for rabies tests. If the dog tests positive for rabies, the girl will require additional treatment.