Dog owner faces charges after their dog attacks 2 people, dog at pet store
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - A dog owner faces charges after witnesses said a pit bull attacked a Petco employee, a customer and another dog at the Petco in Sandy Springs on Roswell Road.
"At the end of the day a lady got bit, and she got hurt on Christmas Eve, and I'm sorry," said the pit bull's owner.
According to police, a customer brought a pit bull to the store, but some point the dog managed to get away.
FOX 5 spoke with the dog's owner, who said her one-year-old pit bull "Rambo" broke free from his collar when a husky growled and lunged at him near the grooming section.
"When it came in and our dogs looked at each other, it bared its teeth and growled and then lunged at, me and my son were standing with the dogs, lunged at us," said the woman who asked to remain anonymous.
The pit bull's owner said people were screaming and kicking her dog, and then a Petco employee exited the store to intervene.
"A groomer came out and said she deals with this all the time, and she went and took her hands to pull them apart from each other and got bit by one of the dogs," said the owner. She said another man was bitten trying to split up the dogs.
FOX 5 News spoke to one witness who didn’t want to be identified, about the chaotic scene.
“Everybody was flustered. They told us what exactly happened and how one of the groomers was bitten so badly she had to go to the hospital,” said one customer.
FOX 5 News also spoke to the lady who snapped this photo of the dog right after the incident.
“There was a pit bull in a crate outside, there was police officer and a lady standing with the pit bull,” said Angie Dumler.
According to police, the owner now faces charges. She told FOX 5 her dog is being held by animal control for evaluation, and it could even be euthanized.
This incident has left many pet owners fearful.
“We come here all the time and we don’t feel safe now,” said the customer.
“It could have been my kids or my dog,” said Dumler.
FOX 5 News reached out to Petco for a statement but had not heard back as of Thursday evening.
The pit bull's owner hopes her message will be heard by the community, and especially those hurt in the fight.
"He didn't attack anybody. He got in an unfortunate situation, and as a puppy he didn't know what to do," she said. "So, he did the best thing he could that he knew he was protecting his owner."
Sandy Springs Police said she faces one charge from its department for letting her dog run loose. The dog owner says she will appear in court in February.