Man charged over pit bull attack

RALEIGH, N.C., March 29 (UPI) -- A local prosecutor in North Carolina is pursuing a case against an owner of two pit bulls that attacked a 6-year-old boy.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby has charged the 23-year-old man with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Sunday.

The boy reportedly suffered 42 lacerations on his face, arms and body.

"A deadly weapon is something that can produce serious injury or death under the definition in North Carolina," Willoughby was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "We thought under the facts of this case, the animals fit that description."

In the wake of the attack Raleigh and another one in Durham, N.C., some have called for legislation to ban pit bulls, as Denver and Prince George's County, Md., have done, the newspaper reported.

Critics, however, say authorities should avoid targeting specific dog breeds.

"We oppose laws that are aimed at eradicating or strictly regulating dogs based on their breeds only," said Cory Smith, director of the Humane Communities Program with the Humane Society of the United States.