Valley pet owners are on high alert, claiming two violent boxer mixes are attacking dogs along a canal near 7th Street and Dunlap Avenue.
Leah Porter owns one of the dogs who was attacked.
"They started to circle around us," said Porter.
"They grabbed him, flipped him on his back, dragged him down a bank and were viciously attacking him," said Porter.
For 20 minutes, she and a passerby tried fighting off the two dogs.
"We were hitting them in the face and in the gut. A man was beating the dogs with a bike," said Porter.
The two finally gave up and ran back home.
"I'm just shocked," said Jeffery Thorpe, the accused boxers' owner.
Thorpe says he's had both dogs for years. "They are boxer mixes -- they are playful."
He doesn't understand how they went from playful to violent. Neighbors say his dogs are linked to five attacks last Monday. Two were so bad, the pets died.
"I feel terrible for the people whose dogs have been killed. These are my family members. I know how they feel and I feel really bad and I don't know what to do," said Thorpe.
Thorpe says he put a more secure lock on his back gate until he's able to block it off completely.
Porter says that's not enough. She believes his dogs have been targeting other pets along the canal for months.
"His dogs have killed five animals since November. He needs to do the right thing. He needs to turn his dogs over and they need to be euthanized," said Porter.
Animal Control officials are not confirming if the two dogs are linked to more attacks.
They have, however, cited Thorpe and his dogs.
Neighbors say that is not enough. They want a judge to declare the dogs vicious so they have to be euthanized.
A community meeting will be held Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at North Mountain Brewery to discuss their options and hear from members of animal control.
