The poodle's owner says two pit bulls from a neighboring house frequently run loose and now after the death of his dog, he's speaking out.
Gary Norman says the pit bull jumped a four-foot fence to get to his dog named Chloe.
"I kinda thought he could get over, but I was shocked at how quick he came over."
He quickly grabbed his dog to run into the house, but the pit bull caught up, attacked Chloe, and then bit Norman.
"Bit me under the arm and got me on the end of the finger," he recounts. "Took her over there and was killing her and I ran inside and got a butcher knife."
He stabbed the pit bull with a knife. Gary says the pit bull didn't seem to notice.
"By that time, my wife had got there with the gun and I shot him three times and he was still attacking her."
Now he's fighting back.
"You should feel safe. There's no reason why your little friend, your dog, should get killed."
Gary's household is one of 23,000 outside Springfield city limits that has limited resources for animal control. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department had to make budget cuts in 2012 and animal control took a bit hit.
The Greene County Sheriff's Office now has two animal control responders covering the entire area outside the county.
"We've only had three calls for the year and it's hit or miss," says Bob Dante, animal control responder. "There's no set pattern, so it could become a burden."
After losing his dog, Norman says he wants to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.
"A human life and the life of other little dogs that are innocent like that shouldn't be jeopardized by people keeping those dogs."
The Greene County Sheriff's Office will only respond to animal bites and vicious dogs.
Chloe and the pit bull didn't survive. Norman found out Thursday the dog didn't have rabies, but he is still filing charges against the pit bull owner.
(Ozarks First - May 10, 2012)
