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Alex Cabrero reporting Tonight Eyewitness News has a follow-up on a story we first told you about last night. Animal control officers were concerned about two pit bulls roaming in a Salt Lake neighborhood. That's because two other pit bulls from the same yard attacked a dog a woman who was walking.
The two dogs that attacked were taken to Salt Lake County Animal Services, and now the other two have been found. They must have gotten too cold last night because they just went back home on their own.
Blue wasn't so sure about our photographer getting so close, so she ran. Lloyd Ferguson, her owner, says that's what she always does, just like his other pit bulls. "I mean, the dogs are mellow dogs. They're not mean dogs," he said.
But Ferguson says he knows the reputation pit bulls get, and he's worried, after what happened yesterday, that people will think less of his dogs.
Someone left his gate open, and all four of them ran. Sandra Renak found two of them while walking her dog. "They started biting and grabbing his leg, and I'm yelling and screaming for help because I didn't know what to do," she said.
She picked her dog up during the fight and was bit on her hand. The two pit bulls then left, but animal control found them and took them.
The other two eventually came back home, but now Ferguson feels terrible for what happened. "Oh yeah, I feel bad. That's, you know, I mean, things happen, and what can you do about it?" he said.
He could be in even bigger trouble. Salt Lake City law only allows two dogs per house. "We have to know when we release these two dogs that either they're going home and the other two will be placed somewhere else, or any combination of that so he only has two total," said Temma Martin, of Salt Lake County Animal Services.
Ferguson says he'll deal with that later. For now, he just doesn't want people to think his dogs are a problem. "They sit there and lick my daughter's face all the time. She rides on their back. I mean, what can you say about that?" he said.
The two pit bulls at the pound are being checked for rabies and can't be released for at least 10 days.
As far as which dogs attack the most, the Humane Society says, "The breeds most commonly involved in both bite injuries and fatalities changes from year to year and from one area of the country to another, depending on the popularity of the breed."
But Renak says two pit bulls bit her, and she doesn't want her neighbor to get them back.
