Pair of Pit Bulls Maul Homeless in Golden Gate Park

A pair of pit bulls mauled one person and mildly injured his owner in Golden Gate park, prompting San Francisco police to kill one of the dogs, and take one into custody.

San Francisco Animal Control Capt. Le-Ellis Brown said "Cleo" will be held for 10 days, and then a "vicious dog hearing" will be held to decide her fate.

Her mate, "Frisco," was shot and killed by officers following a Tuesday 10:40 p.m. attack on a man in Golden Gate Park at 25th and Lincoln avenues.

The owner of Frisco and Cleo went to get groceries at that hour and left his dogs with a friend in the park, according to police and witnesses. When the owner came back, his dog bit him, too, but not as badly.

Both men in the park are homeless.

The friend was taken to the hospital, but is expected to live. The owner declined medical treatment.

Victor Hugo was in the park and watched the man struggle to get away from the dogs. "He was trying to get away," Hugo said.

This fatal dog shooting follows on the heels of three separate dog shootings - two in San Francisco and one in San Leandro - all on Saturday.

The most recent of those dog killings was reported about 2:15 p.m.  the 1000 block of Connecticut Street in San Francisco, when a housing officer opened a door of an abandoned unit and accidentally discharged his weapon, hitting and killing the dog

About an hour earlier, at 1:15 p.m., San Francisco police shot and killed a dog in the Potrero Projects.

And about 10 a.m., police shot and killed an aggressive dog in the 2600 block of Darius Way in San Leandro after a German Shepherd bit an 11-year-old boy in the leg. The dog, along with another German Shepherd, had been acting aggressively toward landscape workers nearby, too. One of the dogs was about to jump at an officer, San Leandro police said, which is when he fired, saying it was self defense.   The second dog was caught and has been quarantined by police.
 
. “It is very unfortunate that the officer had to shoot the dog to prevent from being attacked and to protect others from being attacked, " said San Leandro Police Lt. Robert McManus.  "We encourage everyone to ensure that their dogs are always secured in their homes or yards when unattended, as doing so will prevent incidents such as this."
 

NBC Bay Area's Lisa Fernandez contributed to this report.

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