Silke Jasso
Locals in Spring Valley, N.Y., that had for months complained about a pit bull running loose in the neighborhood and threatening people, complaints supported by video evidence, narrowly avoided an irreversible tragedy on Thursday.
Videos by Rare
Frightening video obtained by PIX11 shows a 3-year-old boy identified as Eli escaped with his life only because a man ran up and grabbed the attacking dog.
The dog, named Max, can be seen running up to a group of children. While the rest were able to get away, the pit bull went after Eli, resulting in several bite injuries to his face and neck.
If it weren’t for a person who didn’t hesitate to grab the dog, Eli might have been mauled to death. Eli had a quick chance at getting up off the ground and running away, but the dog showed that it would continue going after him.
The boy needed stitches. As you can see, the wounds were serious.
“They should take into account repeatedly this pit bull is out on the loose,” Yossi Gestetner said, telling PIX11 that multiple complaints about the dog had been lodged. “According to law it needs to be leashed, and it wasn’t leashed too many times, too often, terrorizing the streets.”
Below are two still images from separate incidents in the neighborhood involving the pit bull chasing after people.
In the first, a mother and child are pictured running away from the dog.
In the second, a small child is pictured being chased back to her house.
Max the pit bull was removed from his owner’s home by Thursday night. That home was right across the street from the location of the latest attack.
While Eli is expected to recover, we can’t imagine a scenario where this dog will be returned to the neighborhood.
It was the second pit bull-related attack in the news this week.
RELATED: Pit bull reacts to getting dressed in a sweater by putting its owner in the hospital
Yesterday, we reported on an incident in Catalina, Calif., where the owner of a Jack Russell terrier courageously jumped into the fray to save his dog from being killed by two pit bulls that were not on leashes.
The owner of the attacking dogs was on the ground in the middle of it sobbing.
John Brady suffered serious injuries Tuesday protecting his little dog, Josh, whom he called his “best friend in the world.”
Brady had to be airlifted from the scene to the hospital. He and his dog Josh both had to have surgery. Brady’s leg was almost chewed off, he said, and he will need more surgeries.
He spoke with KTLA from his hospital bed and described what happened.
“All I did is lift my dog off the ground, and I was being chewed on instantly,” he said. “I knew I was going to die. I was screaming for help, and everybody was just watching […] until the last second.”
“It was so scary. I was just faced to the ground, and just being chewed on by […] I couldn’t even call them dogs,” he continued tearfully. “My dog, thank God that he’s alive. He’s my best friend in the world.”
Both Brady and his dog are recovering.
The man’s family has started a GoFundMe page for their dad and his dog.
