Neighbours of the boy who was attacked by two Rottweilers in Co Offaly at the weekend said they called gardaí to deal with the dogs an hour before the attack.
It is understood gardaí sent a squad car to a cul-de-sac in Sycamore Estate, Edenderry, shortly after 8.30pm on Saturday when they were alerted that the dogs were loose. The dogs' owner was not at home and gardaí left the estate to locate the Tullamore dog warden.
Residents said gardaí did not warn them or their children, who were playing in other cul-de-sacs in the quiet estate, that the dogs were roaming freely. The animals had escaped from the 30ft garden of their owner's semi-detached home by breaking a wooden gate.
Jordan Denn (7) was attacked shortly before 9.30pm as he played on a green with his friends in a cul-de-sac around the corner from where the dogs had been housed.
A neighbour of the dogs' owner told The Irish Timeshe arrived at his home on Saturday evening and found the two Rottweilers in his front garden. "I sat in my car until the dogs went round the back of our house," he said. "Then I went inside and rang the gardaí and they sent a squad car straight away. That was about 8.30pm." He said gardaí tried to approach the dogs but then left.
Maggie Beatty said she saw the dogs attacking the seven-year-old.
"I looked over and I saw the two dogs at him, one had him by the head and the other had him by the hip; it was like he was a lump of steak to them," she said. She said she did not know what to do and was screaming herself when the boy's father, Lee, came running from his house.
"He kicked the dogs and they let go, then he picked Jordan up and walked away slowly so they wouldn't chase him," she said. When the dogs' owner arrived, the Rottweilers "bounced up to her like two poodles".
She said gardaí could have prevented the attack if they had warned residents to take their children indoors. Jordan was taken to Midlands Regional Hospital with injuries to his head, ear, hip and legs. His mother, Tina, described his injuries as horrific.
Last night, the hospital said his condition was stable.
The Rottweilers, Taner and Assassin, were taken away by the Tullamore dog warden and have since been put down with the permission of their owner. She was not at home last night but is reported to be remorseful.
A Garda spokesman said last night that they were investigating the attack and the circumstances leading up to it.