Pit bulls attack 2 dogs

AUSTIN (KXAN) - One dog is undergoing treatment and another is went on the run after being attacked by a pack of pit bulls that chewed through their owner's fence earlier today.

It happened near the intersection of Marble Ridge Drive and Springtime Trail in southeast Austin.

A witness said the pit bulls got away from their owner's yard, chewed through a neighbor's fence, and attacked their two dogs.

"My male blue heeler , they went for his throat, they tried to kill him and his head and his ears are tore up," explained Pastor James Cunningham, who came home from church to find a note from police describing how 5 pit bulls had attacked both his two-year-old dogs, Michael and Ruthie.  "He is chewed up bad and we just hope he is going to come out okay."

Cunnigham's said he is shocked this happened and is in awe of the damage five dogs did to his fence.

"The dogs ate their way through the gate going after my two blue heelers ," Cunningham added.

His neighbor saw the dogs and called police.

When they arrived, they had to taser one dog and shoot two others.

Cunningham said the dogs which belong to a neighbor down the block have always been a problem.

He even called police on them yesterday.

"This is the fourth time these pit bulls have gotten out, the neighbor, they get out, you can hear them coming, it's like cattle," Cunningham said.  "We talked to the police about it beforehand and they never did anything about it."

That neighbor declined to speak on camera, but he did surrender the two pit bulls that ran back home following the attack.

They were euthanized.

Now, Cunningham's dog Michael is at an emergency vet.

His other dog Ruthie, also injured, ran away from home for more than 12 hours following the attack.

"Our dogs our like our family and one of them is chewed up and the other one, we can't find her," Cunningham explained. "She is passive, real real passive.   She is like, if someone comes up to her, she will just roll over on her back. It must have scared her to the point where she ran like crazy."

Luckily, Cunnigham said he heard scratching at his door around 11 o'clock.  It turned out to be Ruthie.

"It is a miracle," Cunninghan told KXAN via phone.

Michael is currently undergoing surgery, but doctors said he will recover.

"The bite wounds aren't that deep," Cunningham said.

Cunningham hopes Michael will be healthy enough to come back from the vet Monday morning.

He now faces a $700 bill and that does not include damage done to his fence.

"I hope he [Michael] is going to be okay with other animals, but you never know when they get attacked like that, " Cunningham added.

Cunningham told KXAN he wants his neighbor to apologize and pay up for what his pets did.

"I really do think my neighbor thinks this is funny.  He needs to be responsible for it.  I am a pastor and we love him and stuff, but he needs to responsible," Cunningham said.

Neighbor Kevin Dawson said they also feared these dogs.

"This is the third time I heard about these dogs," said Dawson.  "They ran up on my wife. They just sniffed her, but I won't let my kids out because of them."

Police did not immediately return our calls for comment.