An eight-year-old boy was last night released from hospital, following surgery after he was mauled by a pit bull.Arnezha Astwood was treated in King Edward VII Memorial hospital after being bitten by the dog at about 5.20pm on Saturday.Yesterday, the dog’s owner, 22-year-old Gary Blackwell, admitted in Magistrates’ Court that his dog had bitten the child. Blackwell also pleaded guilty to keeping unlicensed pit bulls, and keeping an excessive number of dogs on his property.Three dogs were being kept at the Cove Valley Lane apartment in St David’s. Blackwell told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that he kept them for protection.“There have been a number of times I’ve had to call the police, but police take time. I’ve had two bikes stolen.“The police never do nothing for me. My dogs will.”He said that on the day of the incident he opened his door to take the dog, Max, a mixed breed pit bull, out into the yard. The dog was kept indoors, let out only to relieve itself, and was usually on a chain when taken outside.“The kid was in my yard when I opened up my front door,” Blackwell said.“My dog attacked the kid in my yard. The kid started screaming, the dog chased after him, and I chased the dog and pulled it back inside.”The child was taken by taxi to the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre, then moved to KEMH for surgery on Sunday.Blackwell called it “a case of bad luck”, and apologised to the court, saying he was more concerned for the child than he was for the dog.“It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”A neighbour last night described hearing the attack.“I heard the young boy screaming just after 5pm, and ran outside because I heard the screams running cross my yard,” she said.“I came outside to hear our neighbor’s dog had bit the boy and they went back up the hill.“When the police came I went outside to find out if the boy was OK and if the dog will be killed. I have a one-year-old and four-year-old, and he was so ignorant in thinking it’s the boy’s fault for running in his yard.“He was arguing with everyone, not seeing this is a highly child populated area. You should expect kids to be everywhere or put up a fence.”The dog has been seized by the Department of Environmental Protection, along with two other pit bulls an 18-month-old female and a six-month-old male.Crown counsel Robert Welling asked that Blackwell be ordered to pay medical expenses. Blackwell is also liable for a fine of up to $10,000 for the attack alone. It is illegal to keep more than two dogs in a house without permission from the Director of Environmental Protection.Mr Warner granted Blackwell bail of $5,000. He will return to court next month for sentencing.The nature of the child’s injuries were not disclosed in court.