SAN ANTONIO – Elijah Blue stared at an empty street on Tuesday morning, but it is still full of disturbing memories for him of a dog attack.
Blue said he was inside his Pleasanton home on Monday afternoon when he heard screams from a neighbor’s home.
Blue ran to that apartment and called out to the people inside, who then opened the door. Blue said he saw the injuries they suffered in a dog attack.
“Then I looked to the left and, sure enough, that dog she was talking about is mauling the owner,” Blue recalled.
In the middle of the roadway at West White and North Smith streets, Blue said he saw a man on the ground, the dog’s owner, covered in blood. The man’s silver and white extra-large pit bull was biting him.
“The owner kept pleading and crying, ‘Shoot him. Please kill him. Please.’ And I felt helpless,” said Blue, who was armed only with a knife.
Neighbors who showed up warned Blue not to try using the knife on the dog out of fear he also would be mauled.
At one point, Blue said, the dog also appeared ready to turn on him and others.
Meanwhile, the dog tore into its owner, a 56-year-old man, biting him on his face, stomach, thigh and calves. Police said the man suffered serious injuries.
A relative of the other two victims, a 22-year-old woman and her 48-year-old father, told KSAT 12 News that they both were bitten on their legs.
The woman was on her way to an H-E-B store nearby when she was attacked.
When they intervened, the relative said the dog then attacked the woman’s father and its owner.
“It had already got blood from (the woman and her father), so I guess it’s true what they say: ‘A pit bull will taste blood and then want more,’” Blue said. “That dog took chunks out of (its owner).”
As of Tuesday morning, all three victims were still recovering.
Had it not been for Pleasanton police officers taking quick action, Blue said the dog owner, who lost a lot of blood, may not have survived.
According to a police report, an officer initially fired one shot before attempting to use a Taser on the animal.
When that did not work, police fired four shots into the dog, killing it as it tried to run away.
Blue said he does not fault the owner, who had tried to control his pet.
“I saw him put the dog in a headlock to hold him from getting away and attack somebody else,” Blue said. “He was willing to get bit by that dog repeatedly.”
It is unclear whether anyone will face charges in connection with the dog attack.
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