SAN ANTONIO — Beatrice De Los Santos is calling her neighbors heroes after they fended off two dogs who attacked her husband Max.
"The German Shepherd had him by his neck, the Pit Bull had his leg and they were dragging him from in between the houses. It looked like they were trying to drag him across the street," said neighbor Rodolfo Pantoja.
The incident happened early Wednesday morning around 2:30 a.m. in the 7400 block of Fieldgate Drive. Witnesses say the attack was so loud it woke up the neighbors.
"I could see blood gushing out, from the knee to the ankle the whole bone was exposed. Two minutes later and they would have killed him. He was in bad shape," said Pantoja.
After fighting off the dogs once, and while Pantoja was trying to call 9-1-1, the dogs attacked Max a second time. The dogs also attacked Pantoja. Pantoja's father in law, Thomas, also came out to help.
Neighbors say paramedics arrived before police, so they had to stand guard while they tended to Max. De Los Santos says her husband is in the hospital recovering from his horrific injuries.
"His ear was almost dangling, almost pulled off. He has all kinds of deep wounds on his arms and his legs," said De Los Santos.
De Los Santos said her husband would not be here if it wasn't for her neighbors. (She started a GoFundMe here for Pantoja after he suffered a bite himself in the incident.)
"I am so grateful to them for the rest of my life, and I know that is the same thing for my husband," she said.
De Los Santos and neighbors are calling on city and state officials to make changes to the law to better protect citizens from dog attacks.
Police and Animal Care Services both released statements about the incident.
"Officers were dispatched to the listed location for animal bite in progress. The officers observed the victim with serious bodily injury to his extremities and face," police said. "The victim was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. One German Shepard and Pitbull attacked the victim. ACS made location and took custody of the dogs. The owner of the dogs is cooperating with police and could face charges. This is still an ongoing investigation."
"ACS made location and were able to impound both dogs in question," ACS said. "They were loose and officers were able to identify their owner. Dogs are now at ACS under state mandated quarantine 240 hours (10 days). The owner was cited for the animals being free of restraint."