Child Recovering After Being Mauled By A Dog In Spencer

A 1-year-old child is fighting for his life after being mauled by a dog in Spencer. 

J.J. Rodriguez's family tells News 9 that they're trying to stay positive right now, but they know he has a long road in front of him. 

Family of Rodriguez tell me he was outside Sunday afternoon when he was attacked by the dog. His dad and others rushed over to try and help, as the attack was witnessed by several of Rodriguez's siblings. 

"These children are going to need a lot of help also, it's not just J.J. it's affecting all of these kids," said Delfina Wright, his grandmother. "There's a lot of babies that are involved in this." 

Rodriguez was taken to OU Children's with critical injuries. The family says he suffered severe injuries to his face and other parts of his body. 

"Everything can be healed," said Wright. "It's going to take a long time, they said J.J.s going to be here in the hospital weeks, possibly months." 

We're told the dog was taken away and did not have his rabies shots. Investigators with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office said the dog owners had been previously cited for loose animals. 

However, News 9 spoke to the owner of the dog Sunday, and they said their dog has never attacked anyone before and their condolences are with Rodriguez and the family. 

"Our investigators are going to be trying to figure out exactly what happened," said Aaron Brilbeck, with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. "We're getting at least two different stories as far as how the dog was able to attack the child we're going to try and figure out where the truth is." 

Wright also said they started a Go-Fund-Me page for him cover medical bills.