California man dies of injuries after attack by neighbor's dogs
LOS ANGELES -- A man who was attacked by two dogs last month has died, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Two pit bull-type dogs mauled Valentin Herrera, 76, and his little dog, Dodger, just a block from his house on Feb. 2.
Dodger was killed instantly. Herrera had brain and arm surgeries. But doctors could not save him, and he died Monday.
“I think the dogs pulled him down, and then he hit the back of his head,” the victim’s son Luis Herrera said. “My dad had a beautiful heart, you know? That’s why it’s so sad to see him go the way he went.”
The family said they don’t blame the dogs. Luis said he blamed the people who raised the animals and believed the dogs should be put down. “They could do it to somebody else,” Luis said.
Stephanie Grezelle said those same dogs had killed her therapy dog, Tulula, in front of her two young children.
“Thank God that my children didn’t get hurt. They’re dangerous. They need to be put down,” she said.
That decision depends on the dangerous-dog hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The Herrera family planned to be there and explain their loss.
“He was a good man. And in our hearts, he’ll be the best dad,” Valentin Herrera’s daughter said.
The dogs’ owners told CBS Los Angeles that they were heartbroken over the tragedy and planned to be at the dog hearing.
