ARIZONA -- Vivian Robins said her worst nightmare was realized Sunday evening when a loose pit bull attacked and killed her nine-pound terrier, Lola, outside her apartment building near 24th Street and Avenue A.
“We just closed the door to go outside and then this pit bull lunged at Lola and started thrashing her back and forth in its mouth as Lola cried in agony,” Robins said through tears. “And then this second pit bull started to circle around as if it was trying to prevent someone from interfering.”
While Lola was being attacked, Robins said she jumped on the pit bull's back in an attempt to save her dog.
“I was pounding on him and grabbing his jaw to try and open it, but he wouldn't let go. He was just too strong,” she said.
After a brief struggle, a passerby, Cecilia Tobar, noticed the commotion and came to Robins' assistance.
The two women eventually freed Lola and a relative of Robins' transported the severely injured pet to a local veterinary clinic, but it was too late.
“Lola meant everything to me. She was my support animal; my precious companion who kept me from being sad,” Robins said. “And now I have lost her.”
Both women received minor bite wounds during the incident and were treated and released from Yuma Regional Medical Center.
The attack on Lola was the final in a series of three episodes involving the two pit bulls Sunday evening, according to the Yuma Police Department.
“The male and female pit bulls, (who belong to Amber Hughes, 28, of Yuma) escaped from a home on the 800 block of East 24th Street by digging a hole under the fence,” said YPD spokesman Sgt. Clint Norred. “They then went to a nearby housing unit and attacked a Chihuahua. The owners of the Chihuahua were nearby and they were able to save it, although the dog did suffer some injuries.”
After attacking the chihuahua, Norred said the two dogs then chased after an unidentified woman who was walking nearby. She was able to reach the safety of her apartment unharmed.
The attack on Lola was the third episode, before the city's Animal Control Services and YPD officers captured the dogs later that evening without further incident, Norred said.
The two pit bulls are now quarantined for 10 days at the Humane Society of Yuma while being watched for symptoms of rabies.
Norred said charges of dogs at large and license violations were submitted to the city prosecutor and are currently under investigation.
(Yuma Sun - Jan 10, 2012)
