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SALT LAKE CITY -- Three pit bulls are dead after they went on the attack in Salt Lake County. Police officers shot two of the pit bulls Tuesday.
Darrell Yarbrough, a contract worker distributing food inside a mental health facility, was doing his job when three pit bulls started barking aggressively and eventually attacked him. Now, Yarbrough has stitches everywhere and a hand that can barely move, especially for a couple of his fingers.
The attack happened in the parking lot near 3400 South and 400 East, where you can still see the dried blood from the dogs where they were shot.
Yarbrough said he saw the pit bulls when he was first inside, but was attacked when he tried to make a second trip inside the health facility.
"(They) just grabbed me by the arm, pulled me down and stuff," Yarbrough described. "(I) stood there fighting, fighting real hard. Then they tried to grab at my throat, and I put up my arm again. (I) somehow managed to get my arm out of his mouth."
(They) just grabbed me by the arm, pulled me down and stuff. (I) stood there fighting, fighting real hard. Then they tried to grab at my throat, and I put up my arm again. (I) somehow managed to get my arm out of his mouth.
–Darrell Yarbrough
It took workers from the mental health facility hurling a garbage can at the dogs to get Yarbrough enough space to finally escape. All the while, Yarbrough said he was just hoping to survive.
"(I) didn't want them to get to my face," he said. "As long as they didn't get to my face, I felt like I could hold them off pretty good. (They) never did get to my face; that was the most important thing."
Officers from Unified Police and Salt Lake County Animal Services responded to the scene, but the dogs continued to put up a fight, with one of the dogs biting an animal control officer. The persistent attacks by the dogs forced police officers to shoot two of the pit bulls. The third was captured, but was later euthanized.
Officers said they had to shoot the dogs with the way the pit bulls were attacking. The owner of the pit bulls told animal control they must have escaped through an open window.
Email: aadams@ksl.com
