Our beloved Yorkie Rio was attacked twice by loose pit bulls. The second time Rio was attacked his injuries were so great that it wasn't fair to put him through the pain and suffering as well as the multiple surgeries if he survived.

We made the difficult decision Friday morning to euthanize him at MedVet. My wife was injured in the attack so we had to take her for medical care as well. Words cannot express how deeply the loss of Rio — my best friend — is. He was 16 pounds and no match for the three pit bulls that attacked him.

Why was he attacked? Because a careless owner allowed three dangerous dogs to roam free. What was Rio's crime? He dared to walk down a public sidewalk with my wife at 6:30 a.m. in the morning.

To make matters even worse, Columbus police do not handle dog bite/attack calls. Instead the callers are referred to the Columbus Health Department and the dog warden. The latter doesn't have the authority to remove dangerous dogs unless the dogs are surrendered voluntarily or a court order removes them. The end result is that violators are protected as innocent victims stack up.

How many people have to be bitten? How many small dogs have to be killed? How many young children have to be killed before this matter will become important?

Ray Vanzant, Columbus