Arlene Zavocki Stewart spent months trying to find the perfect dog until she found 7-year-old Fred.
But on Sunday, a pit bull attacked and killed Fred during a walk in the Savannah Station neighborhood in the city of Alachua, according to an Alachua Police incident report.
Stewart, 51, told police that around 12:50 p.m. she and Edna Zavocki, Stewart’s 82-year-old mother, were walking Fred when the attack happened, the report said.
Henry Rabell, a realtor who was preparing an open house when he saw the incident, said he saw a pit bull run out of an unfenced yard and attack Fred while Zavocki was walking him on her motorized wheelchair.
“It quickly lunged out and ripped [Fred] out of its leash and started to bite at it,” Rabell said, adding that several people tried to pull the Buster off of Fred.
Rabell said he sells several houses in the neighborhood and has never seen a dog attack before in the area.
Fred lived with the Stewart family in the neighborhood for about a year and a half, and he has never had an issue with neighbors or their dogs until the incident, Stewart said.
“The whole neighborhood knew him,” she said. “Everyone loved him.”
Fred, a “puggle”, a pug and beagle mix was adopted from the Pug Rescue of Florida in May 2017, Stewart said.
“He just had a wonderful light in his eyes,” she said.
Buster was still biting Fred after he killed him when Rabell started recording a video on his phone.
“I, as well as several other nearby neighbors and the pit bull's owner, attempted to pull the dog off the pug, but there was virtually nothing that could stop the dog's ferocious attack,” Rabell wrote on Facebook with the video.
The video has been viewed about 106,000 times, received 299 reactions and has been shared 242 times.
Stewart said she suffered bites and bruises to her hands trying to end the mauling.
The dog’s owner, Gretzaly Gonzalez-Torres, 35, told police her dog unexpectedly escaped through the back door when she was taking out the trash.
“We feel very sad,” Gonzalez-Torres said. “It was the first time that we’ve had this incident with him. He’s not like this.”
Gonzalez-Torres said Buster, the 8-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier, which is a breed of pit bull, has been around small dogs before and never exhibited this behavior.
Gonzalez-Torres surrendered Buster over to Alachua County Animal Services, where he is being held under a 10-day rabies quarantine and will most likely be euthanized, said Ed Williams, the director of animal services.
Williams recommended that when owners know their dogs are aggressive, to keep their dogs on a leash and in a contained property.
Police turned the incident over to animal services, said Sgt. Jesse Sandusky, the Alachua Police Department spokesperson. Animal services is investigating and have not yet decided to take any action toward Gonzalez-Torres as of Friday.
In recent months there have been other dog attacks in Alachua County.
On Sept. 22, three pit bulls escaped from their owner’s, Nathaniel Thomas Pettiford, home on 5800 block of Northwest 29th Terrace and attacked and killed a woman’s emotional support dog, according to a Gainesville Police arrest report. The dogs were euthanized.
On Nov. 28, Justin Hauck’s dog escaped his house and attacked a 9-year-old boy on Northwest 40th Avenue, according to the Gainesville Sun. It also attacked and killed a cat. The dog was euthanized, according to the Sun.
Contact Katherine Wallace-Fernandez at kwallacefernandez@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @katwf98.
Fred, a 7-year-old pug and beagle mix, was on a walk in the Savannah Station neighborhood when he was attacked and killed by an unleashed pit bull on Sunday. Courtesy to The Alligator.
