NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida
Five dogs attacked a woman while she was walking her dog in Lee County.
Betty Hutchinson, 77, was walking her Chihuahua-Jack Russell Terrier mix on Pine Crest Lane when FIVE PIT BULLS jumped a fence and attacked them.
Hutchinson was left with a broken hip, more than 200 stitches, and even lost a toe.
Neighbors rushed to her aide when they heard screaming and barking.
“My husband came into the house screaming, ‘call the police! Call the police! There’s a little old lady lying on the floor!’,” said a witness, Martha Marin.
One new neighbor was landscaping when he saw the commotion and ran over to the scene armed with a shovel.
“I started yelling commands like ‘back off!’ with a shovel,” said Gustavo Marin. “I didn’t have to hit them or nothing they just started running away scared.”
Hutchinson’s attorney, Gary Green, said in a statement, “Betty’s injuries are beyond horrific. She was mauled by a gang of five pit bulls. Her family prays for her recovery. Justice will be served.”
While Hutchinson’s dog, Rosco, did not survive the attack, the five pit bulls were surrendered to Animals Services and are currently under a 10-day quarantine. Their owner, Janine Santiago, plans to fight to get them back.
“I felt like when they came to pick up my dogs they were ripping them up from me,” said Santiago.
She said her dogs were greeting Hutchinson’s dog Rosco when he became aggressive. She believes that once Rosco lashed out at her dogs, they defended themselves.
“They were protecting my family from this dog that showed [its] sign of aggression,” said Santiago.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/37571682/woman-attacked-dog-killed-by-pack-of-dogs-in-lee-county