According to BSO, two pit bulls in a Deerfield Beach neighborhood attacked a neighborhood cat, Monday evening. The cat's owner intervened, and the dogs began mauling her.
"Apparently, these pit bulls came into her yard and started attacking at least one of her cats and then began attacking her," said Dani Moschella of BSO.
When BSO deputies responded to the scene, the dogs charged at an officer. Deputies fired several shots at the pit bulls, killing them. Moschella said, "Multiple deputies were forced to fire their weapons and kill the dogs when the dogs became aggressive toward them."
Witnesses like Chris Goldbach thought the gunshots they heard were fireworks. "At first, I saw one police car over there, and all of a sudden, I saw the police tape, and I was worried that maybe it was a kid in the neighborhood," Goldbach said.
Some of the bullets struck a nearby home; one bullet went through the windshield of a truck parked in Evan Samdahl's driveway. "My neighbor always has her kids out playing on the sidewalks here back and forth, so I'm just thankful there were no kids outside," said Samdahl. "I love pit bulls, but an aggressive-breed dog needs to be secured."
The 53-year-old victim was transported to an area hospital, suffering from bite wounds to her arms, abdomen and foot. Her arm was particularly left shredded by the attack. Now she fears for her cat. She believes the cat may have died in the attack, but she did not see the body and would like to find the remains to give her pet a proper burial.
After the shooting, the dogs' owners arrived at the scene and claimed the animals. It is unknown if he will face any charges.
(WSVN - August 30, 2011)
Cat survives pit bull attack
A cat turned up alive a day after it was mauled by two pit bulls that Broward Sheriff's Office deputies reportedly shot and killed after reporting to the attack of the feline and his owner.
Tuesday afternoon, 53-year-old Celine Botelho said, she watched in giddy amazement as Romeo hobbled in through the open sliding glass door of her Deerfield Beach home. "I was so, so happy," she said. "You couldn't imagine what a relief. It was Romeo."
She had to be hospitalized after the attack in her backyard and wound up with 22 stitches, Monday evening. She tried to protect her cat, but the dogs then started attacking her, and Romeo ran away.
After she was released from the hospital, Botelho spent the day Tuesday searching for her pet and had feared he ran off to die. "I was crying and crying," she said. "I started crawling on my knees, looking under my shed, and as I'm walking towards the screened porch, here comes Romeo!"
She took her pet to the veterinarian soon after he turned up. "He won't stand on the right leg," she said. "That's the leg I saw in the dog's mouth."
According to a Broward Sheriff's Office spokesperson, when police arrived after Botelho called 911, the two dogs tried to come after them. Deputies fired several shots at the pit bulls, killing them.
"Multiple deputies were forced to fire their weapons and kill the dogs when the dogs became aggressive toward them," said Dani Moschella of BSO.
Botelho was transported to an area hospital, suffering from bite wounds to her arms, abdomen and foot. She described what she had to do to escape the dogs.
"I was worried of my face and my neck, my jugular, and I took the sliding glass with this arm," she said pointing to her bandaged right arm. "I pushed it open and pulled myself in, and I slammed the door, and when I slammed the door, the both of them were coming after me."
After the shooting, the dogs' owner, Eric Mar, arrived at the scene and claimed the animals. They apparently wandered all the way from Pompano Beach. He was cited for allowing his dogs to roam loose.
Though the good news was that Romeo survived the attack, the bad news, according to his veterinarian, is he might need to have his tail amputated.
(WSVN - August 30, 2011)
