Chihuahua killed by Rottweiler mixes

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- Every dog owner's nightmare came true for one Long Island woman, when her tiny pup was literally scared to death by two brutish mixed Rottweilers.



Lynette Scaraglino with one of her vicious
Rottweiler mixes that killed "Grover".

 The two beasts nearly devoured Patty Meisoll's 10-pound Chihuahua, named Grover, after the attack dogs ripped down the chain-link fence that was supposed to contain them -- and now the keeper of the pounced-on pup has filed suit in Nassau County against the aggressive dogs' owner.

Meisoll, 43, says that she can't shake the horror of seeing her defenseless pooch attacked this March, the civil negligence lawsuit reads.

She was walking the 4-1/2 year-old dog past the home of Lynette, Salvatore and Tracy Scaraglino on Arlington Avenue in Hempstead.

"Suddenly, the fence literally bowed over, like a wave -- and the dogs came with it," Meisoll told The Post.

"I couldn't see him, but I could hear him -- he was screaming. I tried pulling one of the dogs off but they wouldn't move. They started coming at me. I started screaming for help," said Meisoll.

Grover died 90 minutes after the attack, and a veterinarian told Meisoll her pet suffered heart failure and "had been scared to death," said Meisoll.

In legal papers, the value of the tiny animal is listed as $5,000, but Meisoll's lawyer, Andrew Siben, also filed suit for an unspecified higher amount -- based upon the threat and impact upon his client "who was placed in harm's way in the danger zone."

The Scaraglinos did not respond to a request for comment.

(NY Post - may 23, 2011)