5 hospitalized after 2 separate dog attacks in Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside

JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- At least five people have been hospitalized after two separate dog attacks in the Santa Ana River bottom in recent weeks.

In the first attack, the victim was in the hospital for six days.

"I was fighting for 30 to 40 minutes," said Osvaldo Lopez, who was returning from a day of fishing when he was attacked by two dogs underneath the Van Buren bridge in Riverside July 26.

"I started getting bites all over my body, my stomach, my legs and my arms," Lopez said.

Lopez believes the owner of the two dogs was living in one of the homeless encampments in the area. Eventually, a passerby called 911 to summon paramedics.

Lopez says he lost so much blood that his blood pressure was down to 60/28.

"I'm thinking I was not going to make it. I was scared," he said. "I thought it was going to be the end."

A week and a half later there was another dog attack in the Santa Ana River bottom near Wilderness Avenue. In that attack, four people were sent to the hospital after being attack by a 3-year-old pit bull.

That dog was seized by Riverside County Animal Services. The dogs that attacked Osvaldo Lopez are still believed to be on the loose.

"One of our struggles in the river bottom is when we go down (to investigate) the dogs are gone," said John Welsh, a spokesperson for Riverside County Animal Services.

Welsh said many of the dogs belong to people staying in the homeless encampments, but are frequently not on leash. Because of the growing problem, Animal Services is warning families that head down to the river to use extreme caution.

"What we're dealing with here is a lot of loose dogs. Some are owned, some previously owned. They're not very good. They're nasty dogs," Welsh said.

"Parents need to be mindful that if they have toddlers, they need to be careful," Welsh added. "We don't want to see future victims."