The attack resulted in a combined 57 stitches for the mother and son, and the dog was fatally stabbed to stop the mauling.
“I went and thanked all of my neighbors,” said Lupe Rodriguez, 36. “If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be here.”
Rodriguez and neighbor Jackie Gomez said they made calls to Victorville Animal Control on Nov. 13 to report that a pit bull was loose and roaming the neighborhood that morning.
“We saw the dog for the first time when we were getting ready to walk our kids to school,” Jackie’s husband Art Gomez said.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Rodriguez and her three sons returned home after a trip to McDonald’s. Her son, Robert Rodriguez, was walking with his Happy Meal in hand when the dog bit his leg.
“I was scared but I didn’t care what happened to me,” Lupe Rodriguez said. “I saw the dog on my son and I ran over there.”
When she ran over to help her son, the dog turned on her and bit her left arm.
“It was terrifying ... I was yelling ‘please help me,’ ” she said.
Robert’s older brother Alfred Estrada, Art and Jackie Gomez, and other neighbors came to their rescue.
No amount of pulling on the dog’s collar, kicking, punching or holding the pit bull down would stop the canine from attacking, Lupe Rodriguez said.
The dog released Lupe Rodriguez only after Jackie Gomez stabbed the dog with a knife, she said.
The dog continued to attack, grazing Art Gomez’s right arm, but eventually succumbed to the knife wounds.
“We are pretty traumatized. We’ve seen these types of attacks on TV but not up close,” Art Gomez said.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department responded to the call at 4:59 p.m. in the 13000 block of Thunderbird Place, spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said.
Lupe and Robert Rodriguez were taken by ambulance to Victor Valley Global Medical Center.
Rodriguez said she required 31 stitches in her left arm. She said she also struck her head on the curb during the attack and had lacerations to the side of her head that required more stitches.
Robert required 26 stitches to his leg. Tuesday was his first day back at Heritage School in Phelan since the attack.
“If it wasn’t for everybody helping, it would have been different,” she said. “I’m totally grateful.”
Art and Jackie Gomez said their actions were what good neighbors do.
“If we were in that situation they would help us,” Art Gomez said.
The mother of three said she is upset at what she perceives as a lack of response by Victorville Animal Control. Though Animal Control came to the scene after the incident, Rodriguez claims they didn’t respond to calls regarding the pit bull roaming the neighborhood until it became an emergency.
Jackie Gomez said she called Animal Control at 9 a.m. and was told someone would come out to the neighborhood to investigate. By 11 a.m. no one had arrived so she called again.
“They said they were not coming out because the dog hadn’t attacked anyone,” Jackie Gomez said.
Christian Guntert, acting director of the Victorville Community Services Department, wrote in an email to the Daily Press that Animal Control received two calls at about 8:23 a.m. on Nov. 13 regarding two dogs on the loose.
The presumed owner of the dogs went to Victorville Animal Control at about 9 a.m. looking for them, Guntert said. At that time, the man was told that an officer was going to be dispatched, but the man said he was still going to look for the dogs on his own. Twenty-five minutes later, the man called and told Animal Control that he had found both dogs.
According to Guntert, the man did not give his name, and his phone number was blocked.
Guntert said Animal Control did not get any other phone calls regarding the dogs until 5:11 p.m. when they received the report of the attack. Guntert said animal control responded immediately and was on scene at 5:20 p.m.
Only one dog was at the scene when the officer arrived; it had been severely wounded and was later euthanized, Guntert said.
Guntert said Animal Control has been investigating the incident, and officers believe they know who the owner of the dogs is. A notice of violation was placed at a home believed to be that of the owner, and Animal Control is following up to contact the owner, Guntert said.
(Victorville Daily Press - Nov 20, 2013)
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