Local News in Brief : Deputy Kills Pit Bull After Attack on 2

A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a pit bulldog near Glendale on Wednesday after it attacked a 73-year-old woman and an animal control officer, who fought off the dog by swinging at it with another pit bulldog.

Lillian Denzel, 73, was treated for multiple dog bites on her lower right leg at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and released.

She was attacked about 10:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of Barton Lane in unincorporated Montrose, just north of Glendale, Deputy Chris Wahla said.

Denzel said she was riding her bicycle near her home when two pit bulldogs “rushed out at me. It was quite frightening . . . and I started screaming for help. I screamed about a dozen times.” One of the dogs then bit her twice on her leg, she said.

Neighbors tied the dogs to a tree and called for help, Wahla said.

An animal control officer tied both dogs to a pole and was in the process of putting one into a truck when the other dog chewed through his rope and attacked the officer, Wahla said. The officer managed to keep the animal at bay by swinging at it with the other dog, still tied to the pole, he said.

The officer sought shelter behind Deputy Mark Lorenz, who was armed with a shotgun. When the dog charged Lorenz, he fired three shots, killing it, Wahla said. It was not known who owned the dogs, he said.