Arizona: Construction workers save two little boys being attacked by Labrador mix

ARIZONA -- Kenneth Smirke stood with Pinal County Sheriff's deputies this morning, with his dog Zeus barking loudly from the back of the animal control truck they had placed him in moments after he attacked two young boys.

"This shouldn't have happened," he said.

Smirke says the 8-month-old yellow Labrador had never shown signs of aggression.

 

"(He) never displayed any kind of violence, whatsoever," he said.

In fact, Zeus is described as a lovable family dog. Smirke's son, Ryder, was at the bus stop across the street from their home this morning with at least two other boys when Zeus attacked.

Marco Lizarraga was on his way to work, constructing a new neighborhood. He said he spotted trouble right away.

"When I seen the dog attacking one of the kids," said Lizarrago. "I came right up to the scene and I started honking at him."

He briefly distracted the dog and was ready to take other measures if necessary.

"He wanted to come back for more blood," said Lizarraga. "I was waiting for him to try to attack again, and I was going to run him over. I said, you know what? It's either the kids or the dog."

Skyfox was over the scene when the boys were loaded into ambulances, which then rushed to a hospital.

 

The owner says he's shocked that his dog could do such a thing. I
think we often forget that our pets are animals and can behave as such.

According to the Rural/Metro Fire Department, one boy was bitten on the legs and the other had bites to his face. Mark Clark, a spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said the older brother suffered the most serious wound with a "chunk" of flesh being bitten off by the dog.

Smirke, who believes Zeus may have ran out to chase down another dog, apologized to the victims and their families. Smirke said his mother-in-law picked up one of the kids during the attack to try to get the dog off of him and she kicked Zeus in the head to try and stop it.

"If this happened to my son, I would be, I would be pissed, yeah," he said.

Smirke said he is willing to take the help the families of the victim's financially and to take his dog to obedience training.

For the safety of his neighbors and his children, he needs to surrender this dog and let it be humanely euthanized and just adopt another dog from the shelter and save its life.

Pinal County Animal Care and Control will evaluate the animal before deciding if it can be returned to it's owner in San Tan Valley.

(Fox10 Phoenix - April 28, 2016)