Pittsburgh-area man severely injured trying to save children from pit bulls loose during trick-or-treat
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Four people in Tarentum Borough were attacked by four pit bulls on the loose during trick-or-treating on Thursday night, authorities said.
In a post on Facebook on Thursday around 6:30 p.m., the borough said the dogs were on the loose in the area of the 700 block of Seventh Avenue, Sixth Avenue and Ormond. The post said borough leaders "received reports of several individuals who were bitten."
One of the four people bitten was Mike Shutack, whose body remains covered by bandages, hiding the wounds created after what's best described as a savage mauling. Parts of his face were nearly torn away.
"It took four hours for her to stitch everything back together," Shutack said. "Yeah, it was just hanging there."
A video from Thursday night shows neighbors using a rug to distract the dogs, and one neighbor threw an old PlayStation video game console to stop the animals.
"They weren't letting up. They were relentless," Shutack said.
Shutack said it was about 6 p.m. when he heard people and children screaming. He went to see what happened and saw the dogs headed toward terrified kids.
"There were two kids, and I didn't care about myself," Shutack said. "I took them by the britches and flipped them over the fence to get them out of danger, and they came after me."
The Tarentum Borough Police Department said an officer shot and killed one of the pit bulls while the others were put in a kennel.
Although he didn't want to appear on camera, the landlord of the home where the dogs ran out said he had been trying to legally evict the tenants for some time. The home is now closed off. Charges are pending against the dog's owner.
Trick-or-treating in Tarentum ran from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday.
