Anchor recovering from dog bite during broadcast

DENVER - A television anchor who was bitten in the face by an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff during a live broadcast was released from a hospital on Thursday.

Kyle Dyer of KUSA-TV was bitten Wednesday while doing a story about the dog's rescue from an icy pond by a firefighter in suburban Lakewood.

Dyer was interviewing firefighter Tyler Sugaski and the dog's owner, Michael Robinson, when the dog, named Max, bit her on the face. Sugaski tended to Dyer in the studio until paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital.

KUSA reported Thursday that Dyer was released from Denver Health Medical Center, where she had reconstructive surgery to her lip.

Dog bites Denver TV anchor's face during interview

Robinson was cited with failure to have his dog on a leash — Max was off-leash when he fell into the pond — allowing his dog to bite, and failure to have a vaccinated dog. Robinson insisted that Max's vaccinations are up to date.

"Max is a gentle, loving, family dog," Robinson said. "This incident truly is unfortunate and does not reflect Max's disposition towards people."

"Our family and friends pray for a quick recovery and look forward to seeing Ms. Dyer back on-air soon," he said.

Max was impounded at the Denver Animal Shelter, where he was expected to be released back to his owner after a precautionary 10-day quarantine, said Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal Care and Control.

"We're just checking where the dog has been to make sure there is no other (bite) history or anything else we need to know about," Kelley said.