Dog attack in Los Angeles neighborhood leaves elderly man seriously injured

A Los Angeles resident was forced to surrender her dogs to animal control after they reportedly attacked an elderly man, leaving him injured, and it’s a problem neighbors say has been ongoing.  

The Mid-City incident occurred earlier this week after a woman’s three dogs escaped their yard.

A home’s surveillance footage captured the incident as at least one of the dogs can be seen getting a hold of an elderly man’s leg as he was out for a walk in the neighborhood.  

The victim could be heard screaming for help as the dog latches onto his leg and another one can be seen jumping on him.  

“My dad had to go to the hospital,” Alberto Maytorena told KTLA. “He had his whole leg just torn apart from the dog.”  

To complicate matters, neighbors in the area say this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened and there have been issues with the animals for months.  

“They get out regularly,” Lupita Rodriguez, the victim’s daughter, said. “So, what needs to be done is that those dogs need to be removed immediately.”  

Rodriguez said her father suffered multiple injuries in the attack after getting bit by the dog on his ankles.  

“If it would’ve been a smaller person or a child, if [the dogs] could’ve gotten to the neck or the torso, we’re afraid it could be death,” she added.  

The animal’s owner, Heidi Hernandez, said she feels terrible for the man’s injuries after the attack and added that her dogs are not vicious.  

“They are not, and they have never been,” she said.  

One of the dogs, according to Hernandez, is an emotional support for her brothers with disabilities and the other two belonged to her sister who recently passed away.  

“They’re mean to our dogs as well,” she said of her neighbors. “All animals can sense when someone is being mean.”  

While she says she’s working to ensure the dogs can’t get out again, the fate of the animals is unclear. Hernandez is also on the hook for all the medical bills the victim has as a result of the attack and could face legal action.  

“It could possibly result in a criminal filing against the dog owner,” KTLA Legal Analyst Allison Triessl explained.  

For now, though, the dogs are in the custody of animal control, with Hernandez saying she was told the three animals will be assessed.  

Neighbors, in the meantime, are happy the dogs are gone.  

“What angers us is that this could have been prevented,” Rodriguez explained. “He was the second victim.”