Two people were injured, one severely, when they were bitten by a group of five pit bulls running loose near a St. Petersburg home, according to St. Petersburg Police.

  • Robin Macon, 62, bitten multiple times, hospitalized for severe injuries
  • Laquanda Butler, 52, bitten on leg
  • Dogs charged first responders, forced back by fire extinguishers

Officials said officers were called to 2014 21 Street S. on July 3 after the dogs were reported loose.

Neighbor Laquanda Bulter, 52, was bitten on the leg while trying to help her neighbor, Robin Macon, 62.

“The dog saw me and he ran towards me and I tried to run into my house and that’s when he got me,” said Butler.

Macon was hospitalized with severe injuries that required emergency surgery. Macon's brother, Willie Fields, told us he tried to stop the attack.

“I hit the dog with the chair," said Fields. "The dog didn’t move. It kept on her. Then when I hit him again, I run up there and the dog got at me run me in the house."

Upon arrival, officers noted that the dogs were coming out of two of the home's windows. The windows had no screens.

The dogs reportedly charged the officers when they tried to exit their patrol car. The officers used fire extinguishers to force the dogs back.

"In fact, [officers] completely emptied one fire extinguisher trying to get the dog back.,” Yolanda Fernandez with St. Petersburg Police

A Pinellas Animal Control officer who responded to the scene also had to fend off one of the dogs' attacks.

Eventually, at a point where all five dogs had jumped back into the home, officers were able to trap them inside by closing the windows.

“The dogs jumped back in the house through an open window, and the officers kind of distracted the dogs at the front door while another officer went and closed the window," said Fernandez.

The dogs' owner was not home at the time, but later helped the Animal Control officer load the dogs into a truck to remove them from the home. The owner, who just moved into the house a few days ago, according to neighbors, has not been charged, since police said there was no intent.

Neighbors, however, questioned the owner's judgment in regards to her animals.

"Vicious dogs," said witness Nakita Burns. "I don’t understand why she would leave her window open.”

The dogs will be kept under quarantine for further investigation.

Laquanda Butler, 52, was bitten on the leg by one of the five pit bulls found loose on the property. (Josh Rojas, staff)