A 78-year-old man's left leg had to be amputated after three pit bulls attacked him Tuesday in Jefferson County, according to the sheriff’s office.

In a report, authorities said the man, John Ray Taylor of Pine Bluff, was able to call his son, Kevin Taylor, while in distress around 2:34 p.m. that day.

When Kevin Taylor and his wife, Janet, arrived in the 10000 block of Conifer Trail in Pine Bluff, both saw three dogs, one bloody, “pulling at something,” according to the report. His father had severe injuries to a calf muscle as well as to his face, arms and legs, authorities said.

Kevin Taylor initially charged at the pit bulls, stomping and screaming in an attempt to scare them off of his father, he told the sheriff’s office.

When those efforts were unsuccessful, Kevin Taylor said, he shot and killed two of the dogs. The third dog ran away and was not located by authorities.

The dogs’ owner, Christian Henry, was cited for violating the vicious dog ordinance enacted by the Jefferson County Quorum Court, said sheriff's office spokesman Maj. Lafayette Woods Jr.

John Taylor was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, according to authorities. His exact condition was unknown as of Thursday afternoon.

His son-in-law Gary Greenlee told a responding deputy that the dogs were involved in another attack weeks ago in which they fatally wounded a pig.