It was supposed to be a walk through the neighborhood with the family dogs. But in a flash, it turned into a bloody attack from a pit bull that seemingly came out of thin air.
"She started yelling and I turned around," said Doug Perry, who stabbed the pit bull. "They were on the ground. It was her and the two dogs down there just rolling around."
The Perrys say the pit bull latched on to the throat of their 8-year-old Siberian Husky, "Sierra," then turned on their small American Eskimo named "Buster." Neighbors poured out onto the street. Motorists pulled over, all trying to get the pit bull off the small dog.
"Someone gave me a big stick and I started beating him with the stick," said Perry. "It shattered and went to splinters. He wouldn't release. They gave me some type of pipe, like aluminum pipe. I beat him with the pipe -- he still wouldn't release."
"He was hitting that dog with sticks, bats, everything," said Vicki Perry, Doug's wife. "He wouldn't let loose. We didn't know what to do. And somebody said, 'Get a knife.'"
Doug Perry did just that. He ran into a nearby home where a resident gave him a large kitchen knife.
"So I took the knife and I stabbed the dog one time, and he still wouldn't release," said Doug Perry.
Perry had to stab the dog a second time before it finally released 5-year-old Buster, and then died.
Wednesday, the dogs were back home. Buster needed surgery for severe bite wounds to his leg and groin. Sierra had bad wounds to her throat, hidden under her fur. Vicki has puncture wounds on both hands and a foot, and Doug sliced his hand with the knife while fighting off the pit bull.
"I always thought that maybe [pit bulls] were getting kind of a bad rep at one point, but this kind of changed my mind," said Doug Perry. "I kind of see them in a whole different light now. I don't think pit bulls should be allowed for anyone to have. They are not a pet, you know? They are not a pet."
Anaheim police are looking at the possibility that people reported aggressive behavior by this pit bull earlier in the week. If that is the case, the owners could be facing charges.
The Perrys are facing mounting bills from the hospital and from the veterinarian's office. They do say they're thankful to all the people that came out to help, people they didn't even know who tried to fight off the pit bull.
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