Florida: Woman and her Lab attacked by two pit bulls. One of the pit bulls attacked and killed her Chihuahua last November.

FLORIDA -- Kim Anaheim says she was viciously attacked by her neighbor's pit bulls Saturday morning.

She says she took her dog, a 1-year-old Chocolate Lab named Rapunzel, for a walk by the lake behind her condo at Sugar Mills in Mandarin when the attack happened just before noon.

"All I can say is I was taking my dog potty, her back was turned to the unit and they just ran out and attacked, totally unprovoked," said Anaheim.

She says this isn’t the first time this has happened.

She says her pet Chihuahua was attacked and killed by the same neighbor's pit bull in November of 2015, one day after her mother passed away.

"He's up in heaven with his granny, my mom," said Anaheim.

First Coast News confronted the owner of the pit bulls to see what happened on his end the morning of the latest attack. The owner, who just wants to go by his first name Shawn says it was all an accident. He says he was trying to restrain one of his dogs at the time.

Note: The owner was identified in another article as Shawn McLeod.

"She was on the side of the building with her dog, I never saw them," said Shawn. "I went to clip Baby Girl’s leash on and somehow it popped off and next thing I know we’re rolling on the ground and I got bit trying to break everything up."

Note: Another article says McLeod was outside with his two pit bulls that weren't attached to leashes: "McLeon told officers that his pets broke free of their leash, but a witness said the dogs were not on leashes."

  

 

Shawn says he stuck his hand into his dog’s mouth to pull them away. When he broke up the fight he says he rushed inside without calling 911 because, he says, a neighbor across the street was already doing that for them.

"Well yeah I didn’t have to because I knew someone else already did it," said Shawn.

He says his dogs have never shown any aggression toward him or his 11-year-old son, but he still recalls the last incident in November with Anaheim’s other dog.

"They went to take the trash out and their dog ran all the way to the door by our dog and she killed him," said Shawn.

He says his dog was exonerated in that instance.

"They know I’m sorry, it just doesn’t mean anything you know," said Shawn.

Anaheim is currently working on releasing a statement with her attorney. She plans on pursuing legal action and has already filed a police report.

 

She says she and her dog are healing but she may need plastic surgery on her face due to the deep gashes. Her dog almost lost his tail in the attach but is expected to be okay.

Meanwhile, Shawn says he is putting the two dogs down now. He says he has no other choice and is just waiting on animal control to pick them up.

(First Coast News - Feb 22, 2017)