A man from California lost his life when he was attacked by three dogs while walking in a playground near his home. The man’s name was Pedro Luis Ortega, 26 years old, and he was attacked by three XL bullies inside Mesa Viking Neighborhood Park, San Diego, on Friday, December 13th at noon.
The information was provided by the San Diego Police Department in a press release, according to Fox 8 News, NBC 7 San Diego, and NBC News.
Brutal attack on 26-year-old man
Ortega was brutally bitten several times and another person was seriously injured "by bites" while trying to defend Ortega.
NBC 7 San Diego reported that the "victims were taken to the hospital where Ortega later died. The injuries of the second victim are believed not to be life-threatening."
In another report, revealed by Fox 8 News, Ortega was with a child who, fortunately, was unharmed by the bites.
The only way the dogs gave up on their idea of holding Ortega was by applying electric shocks by the officers. At that moment, the canines ran out of the park.
The event took place in front of dozens of people who were enjoying themselves in the park. Despite the crowd trying to defend Ortega from the dogs, it was impossible to save his life.
Nina Thompson, spokesperson for the non-profit organization Humane Society, told NBC 7 San Diego: "Upon arrival, our humane officers worked collaboratively to locate two of the dogs that were still loose and confiscated a third dog that had been contained in a vehicle." The dogs were euthanized on December 14th.
Witnesses recounted the events.
"I saw a person running with three dogs. I noticed that they kept repeating things like 'Hey, be kind, be good'."
"I just saw that [the police] had something caught in the bushes. At first, I thought it was a person because they were talking about establishing a perimeter."