San Diego police and paramedics were called out Friday afternoon after a fatal dog attack in a city park.
Two people were attacked around noon, one man by his own three dogs in Mesa Viking Park, according to SDPD. A witness told NBC 7 that the man was being mauled when another person tried to help him and was also attacked.
Both victims were taken to a hospital after the attack, where the dog owner was pronounced dead, SDPD Officer Jose Perales told NBC 7.
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The status of the second victim is unknown at this time but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
The owner of the dogs was identified as 26-year-old Pedro Luis Ortega, a spokesperson from the San Diego County Department of the Medical Examiner told NBC7 on Sunday.
"Upon arrival, our humane officers worked collaboratively to locate two of the dogs [that] were still loose, and impounded a third dog that had been contained in a car," Nina Thompson, the humane society's director of public relations, told NBC 7. After that, the San Diego Humane Society took all three dogs away and put them in their care for mandatory bite quarantine.
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A second owner signed over all three dogs and agreed to have the SDHS humanely euthanize them. According to the co-owner of the dogs, they were all a mix of bully breeds, Thompson told NBC 7 on Sunday.
"As a result of the ongoing investigation, the decision was made to euthanize all three of the victim’s dogs," Thompson said.
"This remains an active and ongoing investigation. We are committed to ensuring a thorough review of the incident," Thompson added.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that an SDPD officer, not a spokeswoman with SDFD, told NBC 7 that the dog owner was pronounced dead at the hospital.
