On Friday, two dogs died because of confrontations either with a person or another dog. But it's not always the dogs who are the victims.
Gun shots rang out in a north Bakersfield neighborhood Friday morning. At a home on Alta Vista Drive, a pit-bull from next door broke into a yard. The man who lives there says he shot the dog in self defense.
"A homeowner who was in his own backyard was tending to his dogs when a neighboring pit bull jumped the fence and attempted to attack the homeowner," said Sgt. Bill Ware of the Bakersfield Police Department.
In a separate incident, Velma Criswell's husband says he wishes he'd had a gun to protect his wife when they were both attacked two weeks ago. They were delivering food to a family in Taft when that family's dog ran up and bit Velma, then wouldn't let go.
Criswell says she feared for her life. "I'm going to die, it's going to kill me, I was sure it would have killed me if it had gotten to my throat or my face," she said.
It took her husband, who also sustained bites, and another man to get the dog off her. She was in the hospital for four days and may have to go back for additional surgeries, and the medical bills are adding up. "I'll be lucky if I get off with a hundred thousand dollars," said Criswell.
"In this case the dog has more rights than my parents do," said Criswell's daughter, Roberta Jimerson. Jimerson says that after reporting the dog to Kern County Animal Control, it was quarantined and then let go. She says officers told her it was a civil matter and they'd have to sue to get anything else done.
In a south Bakersfield neighborhod Friday afternoon, it was another dog that was the victim. "I see one dog having another dog in its mouth, tearing it apart like it was some little doll. And I was just like wow! I might be concerned about kids that play around the neighborhood," said Erin Martinez, who witnessed the dog attack.
Police say the man involved in the dog shooting was within his rights and was carrying his gun legally.
And in Criswell's case, animal control says in any such attack, they go out, interview all parties and observe the dog to determine if it's dangerous or vicious.
