Authorities kill 2 dogs after 3 people injured in mauling attack in Elizabeth, N.J.
ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Three women were treated at the hospital earlier Tuesday after trying to separate their fighting pit bull mixes, according to authorities.
It happened at around 7:40 a.m. in Elizabeth. Police shot two of the pit bulls dead.
A witness who took video said he saw three pit bull mixes fighting each other at a house across the street on Amity Place, and that the owners were trying to separate the dogs when they turned on them.
"I saw the girl come out screaming that her mother was bitten by the dog. She had blood on her clothing, and also the mother, after that the ambulance came over and took the woman out older lady, she had blood all over her body," said Uriel Morales.
Morales said he saw police shoot two of the dogs by a fence, but what he captured on video was too graphic to show.
Neighbors said they were startled.
"They had to kill the dogs and take the bodies out," resident Tanesha Morris said.
The family owns three other pit bull mixes, who were taken to an animal shelter in Elizabeth.
The husband of the woman who was attacked told CBS2 she has bite marks on her arm, and that his 30- and 24-year-old daughters have injuries to their hands.
Officials from the prosecutor's office were on the scene investigating. Morales said he believes the shootings were justified.
"The dogs were really aggressive. We don't want a human to be hurt by a dog," Morales said. "They have fought between the dogs, but I have never seen them attack the family."
CBS2 reached out to a spokesperson for the city of Elizabeth to see what will happen to the dogs who were taken away alive. She said she's not sure, but under New Jersey's Vicious Dog Law, the courts ultimately decide whether a dog is aggressive enough to be euthanized.