The daughter of the woman attacked by two pit bulls in Hartford on Sunday morning said that she hopes the animals' owner will come forward.
"I want to thank the Hartford community and especially firefighter Mercado for the outpouring support in connection with my mother's attack on Sunday morning involving two pit bulls which killed her two small dogs, as well. It’s a horrific ordeal and hopefully the dog owners will come forward and take full responsibility. It’s a lose lose situation and no one should have to go through this. We just want to prevent this from happening again in the future," The victim's daughter, Lisa Santini, told NBC Connecticut.
Hartford Police are searching for the owner of two pit bulls that mauled a woman and her two dogs on Flatbush Avenue.
Santini's mother,52-year-old Maria Ortiz was walking her dogs, Gizmo and Kira, in the neighborhood Sunday around 5 a.m.
The dog walk turned gruesome when two pit bulls attacked Ortiz's pets.
Police said as she tried to defend her two service dogs, she was mauled by the pit bulls and bitten on her hands, feet and chin.
Neighbors heard the attack and that's when they came to the rescue, including an off-duty firefighter.
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"I heard her screaming with the dog in the fetal position and then I started hitting," said Nicole Mercado, the firefighter who told NBC Connecticut she used a bat to attempting getting the dogs off the woman.
"I ran back in the house, my brother handed me a stick and we tried to get the dogs off her and they wouldn’t let her go," neighbor, Terry Thornton, said.
"And then a guy came over here with a bigger stick and then got one of them loose and then the other one got loose and he was looking like he was going to attack us."
Hartford Police located the pit bulls, who are being quarantined, a block away from the attack.
Deputy Chief Brian Foley believes the dogs have an owner, but they've been unable to locate them.
"The reasons we believe they have an owner were that both dogs had collars; how they responded to humans; they’re well-fed and in good condition and the fact the victim says she believes she has seen the dogs," said Deputy Chief Foley.
Ortiz was taken to the hospital and released the same day of the attack. Her pets were taken to the veterinarian, but they had to be put down because of their injuries.
According to family, Ortiz had to return to the hospital because one of her injuries was infected.
Police said the incident is still under investigation and whether the pit bulls will be euthanized with be dependent on locating the pit bulls' owners, who could face charges.
