LARGO

Pit bull shot after biting woman, dog

A pit bull attacked a woman and her small dog Saturday morning and was shot by a neighbor, police said. About 11:30 a.m., Largo officers responded to 132 10th Ave. SW, where a woman was in her yard with her small dog when a neighbor's 70-pound pit bill got loose and attacked them.

The woman tried to protect her dog and was bit eight or nine times, police said. After hearing screams, the woman's husband came outside and saw the attack. He and other neighbors tried to pull the pit bull away from his dog. When that didn't work, police said, he retrieved a .38 caliber handgun and shot the pit bull twice. When officers arrived, the pit bill was "barely alive and suffering." His owner gave police permission to euthanize the dog.

The woman was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Her dog was taken to a veterinarian; its condition was unknown Saturday.