A 90-pound Neapolitan Mastiff-pitbull mix was shot by a deputy after it attacked two men in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Murrieta Friday morning.
The attacks left the 80-year-old father of the dog’s owner severely injured. Also hurt was an air- conditioning repairman who was working at the house in 39000 block of Salinas Drive.
“This was a really bad one,” said John Welsh, a spokesman for the county’s Animal Services Department. Around 9 a.m., a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy was called out to the scene of vicious dog report. Upon arriving, the deputy found the 80-year-old man “in the garage being mauled,” according to a report written by Temecula Police Sgt. Terry Jones.

According to the report, the dog charged the deputy, prompting the shooting. The animal was hit twice, but survived and left the scene. The four-year-old dog eventually was found at a nearby home in the 39000 block of Tangletree Way, where it was impounded by a Riverside County Animal Services officer. The dog, a licensed animal named “Stacks,” was signed over by the owner to animal services for humane euthanasia.

As deputies investigated this case, they received information that 30 minutes prior to the initial call, the air conditioning repairman was attacked at the victim’s home while working on the air conditioner. The repairman sought treatment at a local hospital, then reported the incident to authorities, according to Jones.

Welsh said the elderly man was bitten in the stomach, the back of a knee and both arms. The bites to the arms punctured arteries, Welsh said. Welsh said Friday afternoon the repairman suffered moderate injuries.

“We don’t know what provoked the attack,” he said. Welsh said the dog was involved in an incident last year but was returned to its owner.

“I don’t believe it was a serious attack,” he said.

After the dog was shot, it wandered north on the sidewalk of Salinas Drive, leaving behind bloody paw prints. On Friday afternoon, a crime scene cleaner was on the scene to remove the prints and blood stains.