Man is attacked by two dogs; owner worried they will be put down

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: Shared with WINK News.

Pet dogs on the loose went after a man and bit him nearly 20 times. A man was trying to save two young boys from the dogs when they went after him instead.

Bienvenido Roman said he is still in a lot of pain Wednesday while he is recovering at his home in Fort Myers Shores a few doors down from where the two dogs got out.

We also spoke to the dogs’ owner Dawn Hill, who told us their escape was a mistake. She claims the gate on her house was left open without her realizing. Now, her neighbor is dealing with nearly 20 open wounds.

Video captured two Australian blue heelers bolting toward two young boys, and seconds later, Roman pulls up in his white truck. He feared the dogs were going after those kids.

“So I opened up the side of my truck and open up the door and yelled at the dogs, and the dogs, they didn’t even skip a beat,” Roman said. “They just turned right towards me and came charging at me and started biting.”

For a good 30 to 40 seconds, Roman tried to get ahold of those dogs.

“They drug me. One of them bit me on my shoulder, and at that point, I knew he was trying to go for my face,” Roman said. “So I just pulled my head back, and you know after he flipped me and did whatever else he did on me because they were chomping on me, it was time to stand up. So I stood up with them and tried to lift them off the ground and get them off me.”

Eventually Hill went out and got control of them, and first responders took care of Roman.

“They were unprovoked,” Roman said. “The two boys were just in the front yard of their own driveway, just at the front of the house, and these dogs came out, and they were looking to kill.”

But Hill told us her dogs have never been violent with kids. Animal control now has them, and Hill fears officers will soon put her dogs down.

“I just want to be there,” Hill said. “I want them to hear my voice. My hands to be what they see in their last moments.”

Hill told us, in the slim chance she’s able to get her dogs back, she’s already hired a trainer and is looking into a second kind of gate to keep everyone safe.

We asked animal control if indeed officers will put the dogs down, but we did not receive a response.

“They were looking to kill something or someone, and dogs need to be put down,” Roman said. “Unfortunately, sorry to say it, but that’s just the way I feel about these dogs at this point.”

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