NEED TO KNOW
- Two dogs are dead and two people are injured following a pit bull attack in Florida
- Andrew Nibley was walking his English Setter and Cairn Terrier on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 22, when the incident occurred
- He said his dogs were approached and attacked by two off-leash pit bulls
Two dogs are dead and two people are injured following a terrifying pit bull attack in Florida.
Andrew Nibley of Sarasota County said he was walking his dogs, Diana and Chauncey, on Thursday, Jan. 22, at about 7 p.m. local time when two off-leash pit bulls approached and attacked his pets, per local news outlet Fox 13.
“It happened so quickly that I couldn’t do anything,” he recalled while speaking to the outlet. “We got down to the end of the street, and out of the shadows came two pit bulls not on leashes. They attacked my dogs, who were on leashes.”
He said the pit bulls took hold of Diana, an English Setter.
“They just dragged her across the street. Left a huge pile of blood,” he said.
Nibler, who described Diana as “the sweetest, most docile dog you’ve ever seen,” did not fight back. He added that Chauncey, a Cairn Terrier, tried to defend Diana, and received a large bite on his back.
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Nibley said he and his neighbors attempted to stop the attack, and he sustained injuries to his hands and thighs during the ordeal.
Diana ultimately did not survive her injuries.
An officer from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) arrived on the scene and was forced to fire on one of the pit bulls, per Fox 13.
Sarasota Police Department
“Any time there’s an attack, we are trained to stop the threat,” Matt Binkley, community affairs manager for the SCSO, said in a video interview with Fox 13.
Binkley confirmed that the pit bulls appeared to be off-leash and said they were being walked by the roommate of their owner at the time of the incident. The roommate sustained injuries to his hand, back and legs and was taken to a local hospital by ambulance.
Binkley said the pit bull that was shot has since been euthanized, and that animal services will ultimately make a decision on the next steps for the other pit bull involved in the attack.
No charges have been filed at this time, according to the SCSO, per Fox 13.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
For his part, Nibley, an animal rights advocate, said he and his wife want to be sure that the same thing doesn’t happen to any other dog owners.
“We just want to make sure that nobody else has to go through this nightmare that we went through, and we are hoping that we can talk to the authorities and see what can be done to keep these dogs from doing it ever again,” he told Fox 13.
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