A woman was viciously attacked by a pit bull on the streets of San Francisco after the dog was let loose by its owner.
On Tuesday morning, the woman was walking through the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood when the dog suddenly attacked her, a witness said. CBS.
The attack lasted 10 to 15 minutes as passersby tried to use pepper spray to get the dog away from the victim, the outlet reported.
It happened about a quarter mile from the neighborhood police station.
When police arrived on scene, officers used a catch pole to restrain the animal.
According to the outlet, the dog and its owner are common in the Tenderloin, although it remains unclear whether the dog is always on a leash.
A video on the Citizen app shows the woman lying on the ground with the pit bull next to her, his face covered in blood.
In one video uploaded by Tenderloin Activities, witnesses can be heard shouting conflicting instructions to police, with some shouting, “Shoot that dog!” while others shouted, “Don’t shoot that dog!”
A woman was viciously attacked by a pit bull on the streets of San Francisco after the dog was let loose by its owner
The woman was bleeding profusely from several limbs and was taken to hospital in critical condition
The woman suffered serious injuries to her left hand and wrist, as well as her right hand and knee, Tenderloin Activities reported.
She was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where she was placed on a ventilator and remains in critical condition.
The dog died at the scene and the remains were taken by San Francisco Animal Care and Control officers, San Francisco police told DailyMail. Its owner was not present on site.
The dog’s cause of death remains unclear, although witnesses claimed the dog died as a result of rough handling by police. ABC7 reported.
“While the dog was being restrained, the dog became unresponsive and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” SFPD said in a statement to the DailyMail.
The identity of the woman involved in the pit bull attack has not been publicly released. There is speculation that she is homeless and lives in the area. The incident is under investigation.
Tenderloin supervisor Bilal Mahmood addressed the incident social mediawrite: ‘This is not an isolated incident – we have regularly met and worked with families and neighbors in the TL who have experienced similar incidents involving dogs on the streets over the past year.’
“Earlier this year, we worked with SFPD Tenderloin Station on a Paw Patrol pilot to improve both enforcement and education in the neighborhood, and we will work with SFPD again in the coming weeks to identify similar efforts to improve enforcement and keep our communities safe.”
The San Francisco Police Department has a separate Dangerous Dogs Unit, which recently resumed its regular hearings after a 10-month hiatus due to a lack of funding, police said. SF standard.
The hearings, dubbed “dog court” by locals, were established in response to the Diane Whipple case, a tragic incident in which a woman was beaten to death by two presa canarios, according to Officer Greg Sutherland.
The dog randomly jumped on the woman and started biting her. Pedestrians were unable to successfully stop the dog
The dog died at the scene and the remains were taken by San Francisco Animal Care and Control officers
Since January, the Dangerous Dogs Unit has received 729 reports of dog bites, Sutherland told the Daily Mail. Last year the unit received 1,027 reports.
According to Sutherland, about 30-40 percent of bites occur on the tenderloin.
The neighborhood is home to a significant portion of San Francisco’s homeless population, many of whom keep dogs for companionship and protection, according to the Mission Local.
Before dog court hearings resumed last July, the unit had a backlog of 66 cases, the SF Standard reported.
The Daily Mail has reached out to San Francisco and Tenderloin officials for further comment.
