A Bronx woman is under arrest for “intentionally” unleashing her 2 pit bulls to maul a 62-year-old man.
The bloody attack happened outside a Catholic church in the Belmont section of Bronx, NY on Friday.
According to CNN.com, Cynthia Oliver was arguing with Francesco Bove when she suddenly let her 2 pit bulls off their leashes.
The dogs immediately pounced on Bove, biting off one of his ears and ripping chunks of flesh from his limbs.
Bove spoke with WABC reporter Darla Miles by phone from his hospital bed.
“They were like a beast,” Bove told Miles.
“One grab my ear. And the other one grab my hand. It was terrible,” he said.
Bove’s screams brought neighborhood residents rushing to their windows.
One of those residents was Rene Norris, whose son captured the horrific attack on his cell phone from their 4th story window.
Norris can be heard in the background calling 911.
“Hurry up, these dogs are attacking a man!” she yells off camera. “He’s in the street bleeding!”
Norris later described what she saw to WABC: “They ripped this man’s ear off. He had skin hanging from his arms from the multiple bites that he received,” she said.
Eventually, 2 other Good Samaritans arrived to assist Bove by swinging chains and spraying water on the dogs. They tried to form a protective circle around Bove but the dogs continued biting him.
One Good Samaritan was himself bitten by one of the dogs.
Bove was so badly mauled that a priest administered last rites to him.
A surgeon successfully reattached Bove’s ear on Friday. He will undergo more surgery on Monday.
Oliver was charged with eight counts of assault and 2 counts of reckless endangerment. She was transported to a hospital for a psych evaluation.
Police say Oliver intentionally set her pit bulls on Bove.
But the victim’s son, Anthony Bove, isn’t blaming Oliver for the attack, and neither is the victim.
“I believe she tried [to stop the dogs] but she a very small lady. And weak,” Francesco Bove told Miles.
The dogs are in the custody of animal control authorities. They will be put down at a later date.
“My father feels terrible that the dogs are probably going to be put to sleep,” Anthony Bove told CNN.
He added: “The pit bull is not an inherently evil dog. But … these pit bulls might have been trained as guard or attack dogs.”
He said his father saw the dogs licking his blood off the ground.
“They wanted to finish the job. That’s very disturbing to him,” said Anthony Bove.
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