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Several vicious dog attacks prompt Hernando County to look into better enforcement

Posted at 6:23 PM, Jan 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-23 18:23:13-05

Some Hernando County residents say they’re fed up with the recent amount of vicious dog attacks.

Georgina Gutierrez is one of those people. She says she was walking her small dog Caspian to pick up her granddaughter from the bus stop when she says her neighbor’s two large dogs escaped from a space in this fence and attacked her dog.

"They grabbed him like a rag doll and bit him and wouldn’t let go," Gutierrez said.

Caspian was killed and the family believes their little dog protected their granddaughter from being attacked. 

"I’m sorry that he died it really hurts me but I’m glad he gave his life to protect my granddaughter," Ramon Gutierrez said.

Ramon Gutierrez came in front of county commissioners on Tuesday to plead for better vicious dog enforcement. 

He says the vicious dog’s owners had the dogs euthanized, but Gutierrez says this whole thing could’ve been prevented if actions would’ve been taken the first time they called the sheriff’s office about an incident with the vicious dogs escaping through a space in the fence in October and nothing was done.

"It really brought light to our ordinance and our enforcement as a county," Hernando County Commissioner's Chairperson Steve Champion said.

This all happening on the heels of story we showed you a few weeks ago about a little horse being attacked by other vicious dogs in Hernando County. 

RELATED: Dogs 'viciously' attack Hernando family's miniature horse

Commissioners agree to bring the policies and the agencies involved to the next county commission meeting on February 3 to learn how to better enforce animal control laws and hold irresponsible pet owners more accountable.

"That’s why we need to bring it forward like a mini workshop and say, how do we prevent this from ever happening again," Champion said.