Woman mauled by 2 pit bulls in South Seattle

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Pellegrini knew he had to do something when he saw two pit bulls attacking a young woman in South Seattle.

The 52-year-old Renton man was driving near Boeing Field on Wednesday morning when he saw  the two dogs mauling a petite woman, whom he first believed was a teenager. He  stopped his car on South Cloverdale Street and jumped out to help the screaming woman.

“The female was rolling around and covered in blood,” said Pellegrini, noting that several people were standing around watching the attack without offering to help.

Pellegrini said he yelled at a brown dog, then punched the animal in the snout and kicked it. The dog backed down.

Pellegrini said the second dog, which was gray and white, then came at him. He picked the animal up by its ears and pulled it close to his chest. He said the dog  bit him in the stomach.

Seattle police credit Pellegrini and two others with rescuing the 28-year-old woman from the animals.

According to the Seattle Fire Department, the woman suffered multiple bite wounds, including one to the head. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition, said Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.

Moore said a second woman suffered bite wounds when she tried to intervene in the attack, but she declined to be taken to the hospital.

The attack was reported around 10:30 a.m. when witnesses called 911 to report the woman being attacked by two pit bulls near Beacon Avenue  South and South Cloverdale Street. Officers were able to capture the two dogs and turn them over to Seattle Animal Control, which will assist with the investigation, police say.

The animals will be quarantined and monitored, police said.

After the attack, Pellegrini sat on a set of stairs just feet from where the woman’s blood was spattered on the street and focused on breathing. He said he has several medical problems, including heart problems, and that the incident sent his heart racing.

While Pellegrini was talking, an employee of Regional Animal Services of King County photographed the bite wound to his stomach and blood on his arm, which he pointed out was the victim’s.

Pellegrini said, he can’t stop thinking about the woman and what he saw.

“The screams will never go away,” he said. “I did the best I could do.”

ORIGINAL POST:
Two people are being treated by Seattle Fire Department medics after they were attacked by two pit bulls in South Seattle on Wednesday morning.

Seattle police are investigating the attack, at South Cloverdale Street and Beacon Avenue South. Details are sketchy, but police say a woman and a man in his 40s were hurt.

“The pit bulls have been contained by officers. They will be handed over to Animal Control,” said Seattle police spokesman Drew Fowler.

Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said he is trying to get information about injuries. Authorities were called at 10:27 a.m.

Don Jordan, executive director of the Seattle Animal Shelter, could not be immediately reached for comment.

(The Seattle Times (blog) - Sept 3, 2014)