Elderly Flagler County man and his dog attacked

PALM COAST, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Flagler County Sheriff's Deputies say a sixty-pound pit-bull mix broke his leash and charged at the helpless man and his little dog. Now the small dog is dead, and the bigger dog will be joining him, soon.

“What's going on?” a dispatcher asks on the 911 call. “A dog attacked my husband and little yorkie,” the frightened woman responds. “Is he injured?” the operator asks. “He's very injured...he's bleeding, it's bad!” she replies.

It happened in the parking lot at the Canopy Walk community in Palm Coast. Two couples were walking with their dogs, when one dog broke his leash and lunged at the other.

“Jumped up and leaped on the owner as he was trying to protect his dog and he was bitten as a result,” said Chief Mark Strobridge, with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, “unfortunately the dog was also bitten and killed by the larger dog.”

The 911 audio of the attack is chilling. “And the dog may be dead! Our dog may be dead!” the yorkie’s owner screams. “Your dog?” the dispatcher asks. “Yes! A big dog attacked them! Please hurry!” she replies.

The big dog was a two year old pit-bull/labrador mix. His owner describes him on the 911 call. “He's a mutt dog, but he's basically a 60 pound mixed dog, mixed breed. He got off the leash by mistake.”

The smaller dog was a yorkie. Patty Snyder, a neighbor of her owner says she was like their baby. “I knew the dog, too. It was the sweetest little thing. And it's sad it happened,” she said.

Deputies say the small dog’s owner got a bad bite and needed stitches. The bigger dog’s owner can be heard apologizing to dispatchers.

“We're all a bit shaken up,” she explains. “I understand,” the dispatcher replies. “I'm so sorry, oh god,” she says.

We spoke with bigger dog’s owner on the phone. She says he'd never shown any aggressive behavior before, and they're allowing animal control to put him down.