CALIFORNIA -- An emu and a ewe are not your usual domestic pets. But, for Mary Dewsnup and her partner Willard Bedford, they were pets and family members.
An emu is a large, exotic bird, very similar to the ostrich. A ewe is a female sheep. Though they were two very different animals, Mary said they bonded and were inseparable.
An emu is a large, exotic bird, very similar to the ostrich. A ewe is a female sheep. Though they were two very different animals, Mary said they bonded and were inseparable.
"Where you saw one, you saw the other," she said.
Dewsnup said that the emu was hatched right there in their backyard, nearly 10 years ago.
But Dewsnup's happiness and joy for her pets came to end last Sunday, when she said they were brutally killed. She said they were mauled and attacked by her neighbor's two pit bull dogs.
"I'm angry, I'm very angry," said Dewsnup.
Dewsnup claimed the dogs forced their way through the wooden fence that she shares with her neighbor.
Dewsnup said that the emu was hatched right there in their backyard, nearly 10 years ago.
But Dewsnup's happiness and joy for her pets came to end last Sunday, when she said they were brutally killed. She said they were mauled and attacked by her neighbor's two pit bull dogs.
"I'm angry, I'm very angry," said Dewsnup.
Dewsnup claimed the dogs forced their way through the wooden fence that she shares with her neighbor.
Eyewitness News contacted Dewsnup's neighbor. The woman living there didn't want to give her name, but she said the allegations are false and said her dogs were chained up. The female neighbor also said that her family only has one pit bull, not two. She said that she believes the holes in the fence are the work of other neighborhood dogs.
"All I want them to do is take care of the animals. Do something with the animals. I do not want them in the Bakersfield area," Dewsnup said.
"All I want them to do is take care of the animals. Do something with the animals. I do not want them in the Bakersfield area," Dewsnup said.
Dewsnup told Eyewitness News that her partner reported the incident to Kern County Animal Control. A spokesperson for Animal Control said the agency is looking into the matter.
The female neighbor said she sympathizes with the loss, because she has animals of her own. But, she said her dogs were not responsible for the attack.
(Northwest Bakersfield Now - Jan 25, 2012)
