Lincoln HEIGHTS (CBSLA.com) — The elderly man, who was mauled by two pit bulls in Lincoln Heights Thursday, may not survive, the victim’s daughter told CBS2’s Randy Paige Friday.

Valentin Herrera was walking his little dog, Dodger, a block from his house at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday in the 2600 block of North Lincoln Park Avenue, when two pit bulls attacked him and killed his pet, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Herrera and his wife, Anita, have been married for 50 years. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

In November, the 76 year-old nearly died from a heart attack. Now, his life is on the line again as he remains in critical condition.

His daughter said he underwent surgery on his brain and his arms and may not survive his injuries.

Herrera and his dog may not be the only victims of the two pit bulls that are now under quarantine.

Stephanie Grezelle said the same two pit bulls mauled to death her dog, Tulula, Sunday night in front of her two young children.

“They watched their dog get mauled in a puddle of blood,” Grizelle recalled. “We rushed her to the hospital. We tried to save her. Later that evening, she stopped breathing. There was too much damage, and she died.”

She said Tulula was a therapy dog, trained to show affection for seniors and children with autism. She didn’t stand a chance.

“They’re dangerous. They need to be put down. I would never say that about any dog. You’ve got to train them. But these dogs have killed before. They’ve killed mine. Now, this man is injured. I thank God that my children didn’t get hurt. They’re starting therapy next week. They’re traumatized,” Grezelle explained.

Comments (3)
  1. Most animal control agencies don’t consider dogs that kill other dogs to be a danger, they just view it as a civil issue between the party that suffered loss, which is the market value of the dog (cat, livestock) that was killed, or recovering expenses that were suffered. I was told by my local animal control after a pit bull that “somehow” escaped the confines of its owner’s home to ram through the rungs of a wrought iron gate and maul my dog (which later died from the injuries) that dogs can kill other animals off their property three times until they will even hold a dangerous animal hearing. These days, they have been spirited away from the job of serving public safety to becoming advocates for risky dog breeds.

    I’m deeply outraged by the suffering the mismanagement of these dangerous dogs has caused, and how Animal control enabled the second incident to happen. Best wishes to all injured parties, may you find justice and healing.


  2. James Duncan says:

    Sad to say, events like this are entirely commonplace. Google “pit bull attack”. Most of the many daily reported mauling events involve 4-7 figure total bills for injury, trauma, disfigurement, plastic surgery, rehab, and often life flights. Typically, these expenses are covered by the health care system and taxpayers.

    Over 937 Cities, Towns and 31 Counties, plus 292 US Military bases in 36 states in the US currently have Breed Specific Legislation against pit bull type dogs as do several dozen countries. Pit bull bans are widely precedented. Why would all those locales and the US Military worldwide (in housing) ban pitbulls? Do YouTube “pit bull attack” to see why. US service personnel are trusted with the latest arms but not pit bulls (and several other bully breeds) after 2009 when a soldier’s son was mauled to death.

    It is due to a twisted ideology that authoritative groups such as the SPCA and HSUS have failed in their duty to properly educate the public about the hazards of bully breed dogs. A lot of pit bull carnage can be pinned on the promotion of dangerous dogs as acceptable pets to a gullible unsuspecting public.

    Breeders make a lot of money selling pit bulls and don’t want to lose this franchise. The true costs of this private enterprise become socialized when people, pets, and livestock are mauled. Also when shelters are overwhelmed with surrendered pit bulls whose owners couldn’t handle them. In fact 1 million US pit bulls are euthanized annually with ~35000 up for adoption at any given time.