5-year-old Silverdale boy mauled by two Rottweilers

SILVERDALE, Wash. -- It happened Tuesday afternoon in the front yard of the boy's home on Apex Road Northwest.

The boy was playing with the younger of two Rottweilers when suddenly, for some unknown reason, the dog started to attack.

Kitsap County sheriff's deputies say the 5-year-old boy had played with the dogs before and there was never a problem until now.

"For reasons unknown, the dog starts attacking the little boy," Kitsap County sheriff’s deputy Scott Wilson said.

When the boy`s mom ran in to help, investigators say the second dog joined in.

"The mom can't get the dogs off of her little boy so she lies on top of her son and absorbs the bites that are coming,” Wilson said.

Fortunately, the boy's great grandfather was nearby and managed to pull the boy free but by then he had been severely injured.

"Bites to the head and neck area,” Wilson said.

He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center and the dogs were taken to the Kitsap County Humane Society where their future is uncertain.

A nursing supervisor told Q13FOX News that the boy was listed in serious condition as of early Wednesday morning.

Investigators say the dogs had only been at the home a few weeks.

The boy’s mother was boarding them for a friend.

Neighbors say oftentimes the dogs would run free, causing some concern about safety on the street.

Investigators say there was no crime on anybody’s part and the dogs had never hurt anyone before.

As for the mom, her injuries were minor.