FLORIDA -- The early evening tranquility of the Victoria Park neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale was shattered Wednesday by screams of terror when two pit bulls bit a woman, killed one of her dogs and seriously injured another one.
It was a moment that neighbors said they had been dreading after weeks of living in fear of the pit bulls that had moved into a house on the 500 block of Victoria Park Road. The dogs had been seen roaming the streets unleashed on previous occasions, neighbors said.
Kailen Gonzalez, 25, and her brother Carlos Gonzalez, 28, were walking their three dogs about 6 p.m. along the 500 block of Victoria Terrace when the two pit bulls charged out of their backyard.
"There was no mercy," said Carlos Gonzalez. "They were just attacking, attacking."
Kailen Gonzalez was trying to protect Bella, her Silky terrier, when one of the pit bulls bit her on the face, Carlos Gonzalez said.
By the time the attack ended, Bella was dead and Milo, Kailen's Jack Russell terrier, was seriously injured, Carlos Gonzalez said. Neither he nor his Silky terrier were bitten, but he said his sister probably will need plastic surgery on the puncture wounds on her left cheek.
A Broward County Animal Care and Regulation officer took the two pit bulls into custody. It was unclear Wednesday night whether the owner was cited.
The owner of the pit bulls refused to comment beyond saying, "I have enough pain, don't you think?"
(Sun Sentinel - May 21, 2009)
