Pit bulls attack elderly man, kill his dog in Los Angeles, witness says
LOS ANGELES -- Two pit bulls are being held by the Los Angeles Animal Services Department after attacking an elderly man and killing his little dog Thursday afternoon, CBS Los Angeles reports.
“I saw these two pit bulls pulling something apart,” said Frank Carrasco, who witnessed the mauling. “It looked like a piece of material, you know, like pulling it back and forth.”
After killing the Pomeranian named Dodger, the pit bulls went after the dead dog’s elderly owner.
“They just attacked him. Just like that. They didn’t even growl or nothing. One jumped on the man, and the other one came out of the yard and jumped on the man and knocked the man down,” Carrasco said.
After calling 911, another neighbor snapped a picture of the victim, Valentin Herrera, 76, still lying on the ground after the attack.
The victim’s grandson told CBS Los Angeles that his grandfather was in the hospital with injuries to his arm and head and should be OK after surgery.
“He’s diabetic,” said Herrera’s grandson, Christian Flores. “He has dementia, all this stuff, and, you know, every day walking the dog, you know, nothing happens. You know, they leave their gate open, dogs come and just rip up our dog apart.”
Animal control officers questioned the pit bulls’ owner and took away his two dogs.
The pit bulls were taken to an animal shelter, where they will be quarantined, said Angela Llerenas, an animal control officer with the Los Angeles Animal Services Department.
She said the animals will spend at least 10 days in quarantine until their fate is decided in a hearing.
“It ain’t the dogs’ fault,” Flores said. “It’s the owner’s fault for how he raised their dogs.”
Carrasco said the pit bulls’ owner should have also done more after the attack.
“He didn’t say anything,” he said. “He just stayed at the fence like nothing happened. He didn’t even come out to help the man on the ground. He didn’t come out at all.”
Neighbors said the pit bulls have scared people before. Animal control officers said they were checking if there have been any previous complaints.