Idiot of the day: Pit bull owner Simon Moussa

"Dog dies after pit bull attack in Lincoln"

RHODE ISLAND -- A dog owner in Lincoln is mourning one of her pets after it was killed in an attack by a pit bull Thursday.

"He was my baby," Luz Molina says of her Yorkie, Tyson.

Molina says the pit bull charged while she was walking her two dogs in their Manville Thursday.

"He was so furious. He was like a beast," Molina told NBC10. "It was horrifying what I lived. I feel so bad. I couldn't free him from his mouth. It was terrifying…he shook him so bad and the Yorkie was crying."

Her other dog got hurt, too, needing more than 20 stitches.

Molina says she got down to shield her dogs while the pit bull was still attacking.

"He was right in front of me, his face. I was screaming 'help, help!' He was right in front of me. At that moment, I was there at his mercy."

Molina says she was bitten on the hand, too.

“Molina stated she did all she could to protect her dogs, but Tank was much too strong and powerful to overcome,” Lincoln Patrol Officer Russell Enos stated in his report. “Molina stated Tank locked it’s jaws around the neck of Tyson and began to shake him from side to side before letting go to violently attack her other dog Poochie."

Simon G. Moussa, 25, of 104 Bouvier Ave, owner of the pit bull told NBC10, "It's a horrible situation for both parties…my dog did something wrong and he's being punished for it."

Moussa's dog, Tank, is now at the town animal shelter, facing the possibility of being put down. "If I have to put my dog down, I've had him since he was 4 weeks old. He's my baby. I'm going to be a little torn as well," he said.

Moussa called his 93-pound, 13-month-old dog “a baby” with no history of going after people.

Moussa: Typical "blame the victim" response

Moussa says he feels bad for Molina, that he will talk to her, and pay her bills. But he also claims there's a history. He claims that one of Molina's dogs cut Tank's nose a couple months ago.

“The two dogs were vicious dogs themselves,” he said.

Moussa said his dog “didn’t viciously go after (Molina)” and that he could have done more damage “if he wanted to hurt her.”

"He's obviously not a vicious dog. Everybody in the neighborhood can attest to, he's a lovebug. He's just a big dog and he was defending himself to circumstances of, hey, two dogs attacked me and he happened to be bigger and stronger," Moussa said.

He thinks Tank is getting a bad rap because he's a pit bull. 

Moussa's killer dog, Tank

Don't worry, though, he still has a back-up pit bull

"Everybody's pointing at him like bad dog, vicious dog. This and that. It's all a crock of crap."

“He’s my dog and I’ll defend him to the end,” he said.

But Luz Molina has a different opinion, and denies the dogs had a prior run-in. Molina said, " The dog is dangerous. He killed. He shouldn't be around."

Police say the Tank the pit bull will go through a vicious dog hearing and Moussa could face a fine.

(Turnto10 - Aug 27 2013)