Man attacked by pit bulls in Bronx; owner arrested (video)

[zoegirltx]

www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pit-bulls-attack-man-bronx-graphic-video-shows-article-1.2358056

video is VERY graphic  


62-year-old man was nearly killed in a vicious attack by two pit bulls as neighbors frantically tried to intervene in the Bronx Friday morning, police said.



Francesco Bove said he was heading into Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Belmont Avenue and 187th Street when the dogs got off their leash and began mauling him -- an attack so violent the priest and neighbors came outside to help.



“The Father read him his last rites because he looked like he was going to die,” Bove’s son, Anthony, told the Daily News Saturday. “But the Father said he had to promise to fight through it.”



Police said the dog's owner, Cynthia Oliver, ordered the dogs to attack, but Francesco Bove said that wasn't true.



"Those dogs, they were trained to fight," Bove told the Daily News, noting he feels "pretty bad."



Bove, an artist who lives in Coney Island, did not know or interact with Oliver, who lives next to the church. He was in the area to look into restoring the marble at the church.



Graphic video taken from a nearby apartment shows the dogs relentlessly lunge at Bove as he twists on the ground. A good Samaritan stood over Bove to protect him as the dogs kept up their assault, even dragging him to the curb with their teeth.



“It was very clear from my father that while he was on the floor that the dogs wanted his blood, they wanted it,” Anthony Bove said. “They were licking the blood where it was sprayed on the street.”



Several neighbors soon jumped in, armed with hoses, chains and bats, to pull the dogs off. While they whipped the dogs away and blasted them with water, the pit bulls went after another good Samaritan, 46-year-old Emilio Ortiz, police said.



As the action moved off-camera, blood spread out from Bove before he got up and walked away.



“He wasn’t really all there when he got out of that pool of blood,” Anthony Bove, 35, said.

Francesco Bove and Ortiz were transported to Saint Barnabas Hospital in stable condition.



Bove underwent five hours of surgery Friday night after he had “two big chunks missing” from both his arms and “his ear was torn to pieces,” his son said. He also sustained multiple lacerations to his arms, legs and chest.



Bove is expected to stay in the hospital for at least a week to undergo another surgery to move a nerve from his leg into his arm, his son said.



Doctors are still working to figure out the extent of the nerve damage, which could impact “not only his way of life but his passion” – making art, Anthony Bove said.



Still, Francesco Bove has stayed positive and joked to his son that at least he hadn’t been attacked by a lion.



“He’s really, really tough,” Anthony Bove said.



But Francesco Bove, who himself owns a "lovely" pit bull named Gina, said he is worried about the fate of the dogs, who are currently in the care of Animal Control.



"I'm so sorry that they're going to put them down," Bove said.



Oliver, their owner, was arrested on eight counts of assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. Her bail was set at $35,000 Saturday.

[iammalcolmx]

Unless I get more information I am disgusted with the owner.

Can those knowledge people tell me about dogs licking blood? Can that be true?

[NewOrleans]

omg omg omg


AND WHAT THE HELL WITH 911 ON THE PHONE WITH HER? WTF?

[katietornado]

This is awful. How terribly terribly sad for everyone involved.

My dog was attacked by two off-leash pits three summers ago while we were out running. There's nothing like that experience. Instincts and terror kick in, and before you know it, you're punching and kicking a dog with all your strength. Realizing that they wouldn't let go was horrifying. The owner and a passerby had this dog pinned to the ground, and he still had my dog's chest skin in his mouth.

*I have nothing against pits themselves. I do have things against shitty off-leash dogs.*

[katietornado]

Sept 12, 2015 16:33:50 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Unless I get more information I am disgusted with the owner.

Can those knowledge people tell me about dogs licking blood? Can that be true?

Greyhound trainers have been known to illegally use live animals (rabbits, kittens, even wildlife) to bait the dogs to give them the "taste" for blood.  No idea if there's any science behind it.  Considering the intellects of the people involved in dog racing, I'm going to go with no.

[IIOY]

Jesus Christ, that poor man.

[Kattey]

How terrifying, I can't imagine.

[heyjude]

What a wonderful man this man sounds to be. Worried about the dogs after all that? This is a good person. Poor soul.

[sugarglider]

I'm not sure these are fighting dogs. Fighting dogs are typically trained to be aggressive toward other animals but not to people. However, I do believe they were trained to behave in this fashion.

i hope the man will be able to recover and create again.

[memenee]

Forget the warning that the video is graphic. That story was pretty graphic!

That poor man. I cannot even imagine.

[Jalapeñomel]

Sept 12, 2015 16:36:59 GMT -5 katietornado said:

This is awful. How terribly terribly sad for everyone involved.

My dog was attacked by two off-leash pits three summers ago while we were out running. There's nothing like that experience. Instincts and terror kick in, and before you know it, you're punching and kicking a dog with all your strength. Realizing that they wouldn't let go was horrifying. The owner and a passerby had this dog pinned to the ground, and he still had my dog's chest skin in his mouth.

*I have nothing against pits themselves. I do have things against shitty off-leash dogs.*

My corgi was also attacked by an off-leash pit bull while my FIL was dog sitting. We are lucky she is still alive, and it was because of my FIL that she is. So horrible.

[Michelle]

I am glad the owner is being charged. That poor man.

[mcmel]

What a horrible story.

That man is an absolute saint to care about the lives of his attackers. I hope good things come his way.

About the blood- many dogs eat raw (including mine) and yes, they do love blood. They lick up blood from their dinner and we save the blood from when we thaw their meat. Dogs are carnivores and it's good for them. My puppies are sweethearts though, as are most dogs (raw fed or not). They don't connect living creatures to dinner. They're great around kids, other dogs and cats, etc. I've brought puppies, kittens, squirrels, and birds of all sizes around my dogs and they're great. We even had a baby raccoon live with us for two months and he slept, ate, and drank with my pups, but the second you put a steak in front of my dogs they scarfed it down.

These dogs had a different mentality. Such a sad story and I'm glad the owner is getting charged. Don't own dogs you can't handle.

[WOT?*]

The attack was apparently not the first by the dogs. A neighbor, Marguerite Gauthier, 55, said one of the dogs bit her on the leg early last year, requiring her to get a tetanus shot.

“The dogs are vicious,” she said, adding, “"When I go out, I always look to make sure they’re not around."

Why weren't they taken then? Especially with the follow up that “She was a petite, weak lady. (The dogs) were dragging her wherever they go and she couldn’t hold onto (the leash),” That is just crazy.  She has no business being a Pit owner (says the mother - and sister and aunt - of a pit owner with great, amazingly well trained and family-friendly dogs.)

ETA: The guy who was attacked looks like such a happy, friendly guy.

As my grandma would say (I think), "Anima bella."

[ttt]

I keep TELLING people to stay away from that guy.