VICIOUS DOGS Pit bulls attack 4-year-old girl

One of the dogs was killed by police.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- Two pit bulls, a male and a female, attacked a 4-year-old girl Tuesday evening while she was playing in her driveway and also attacked a Jack Russell terrier that came out of the girl's home during the melee.
The male dog was shot and killed by police when it menaced officers, and the female pit pull was captured and is being held by the Mahoning County dog warden. The dogs will be tested for rabies, officials said.
The victim's mother, Margaret Maytas of 544 Eighth St., heard her daughter, Gabriella, screaming at about 5:20 p.m. When she went outside, she saw the pit bulls had her daughter pinned to the ground and were trying to bite and claw her.
Maytas told police that when she opened her door, the family's Jack Russell terrier ran out of the house, at which time the pit bulls left her daughter and attacked the terrier. The girl did not require hospitalization, according to reports.
Several neighbors grabbed shovels and began striking the pit bulls in an attempt to free the terrier. The terrier ran under a car followed by the pit bulls. At that point Maytas grabbed her dog and then police arrived.
The dogs approached the officer with teeth bared and growling. Tony Demarco, county deputy dog warden, arrived and determined the male dog was too vicious to be captured and it was destroyed by police. The female dog ran and could not immediately be located.
Dog returns
At about 8 p.m., residents told police that the female pit bull had returned to the Eighth Street neighborhood. Police searched the area on foot, but the dog could not be located. About 15 minutes later, another Eighth Street resident told police he had the dog trapped in his garage. The dog warden was summoned again, and the dog's owner, Robert Ashford, of 546 8th St., was located. He brought his dog out of the garage and put it in the dog warden's vehicle.
Ashford is charged with two counts each of having dogs running at large, improper confinement and failure to obtain insurance for the animals. Also, neither animal was registered with the state, and it was unclear if they had been vaccinated for rabies, police said.