HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A Dauphin County man will serve jail time for a dog attack that caused serious injury to a 4-year-old girl last year.

Jody Vermeulen, 43, pleaded guilty to the first-degree misdemeanor and was sentenced Wednesday to 6 to 23 months.

The dog was shot and killed by the girl’s father after it attacked her in the High Pointe Club apartments in Susquehanna Township on June 27.

Wynton Williams said the loose dog growled and then lunged at his daughter Olivia, grabbed her by the neck, and dragged her into a mulch bed.

Williams said he punched and kicked the dog until it let go of his child then used a neighbor’s gun to kill the animal because it was attacking him.

The girl sustained deep wounds to her neck that required 30 to 40 stitches.

Police said the dog bit another child in the neck in 2018, one of two prior biting incidents involving the 3-year-old American bulldog.

Additionally, they said the dog was able to get out of the apartment in the past because the door was damaged, but Vermeulen did not request a repair from the leasing office.