Man says he shot 'vicious' pit bull that mauled cat in Springfield neighborhood

A contractor was working on the back porch of a Springfield home Wednesday morning when he heard a commotion.

A postal worker was honking her horn nearby, and Charles Corcoran ran out to the street.

Two dogs —a red one and a white one — were attacking a smaller animal, Corcoran said, and he tried to break it up.

Then the dogs turned on him, he said.

The red dog was definitely a "full-blooded pit bull," Corcoran said, and the white dog appeared to be a pit bull mix.

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Corcoran, 47, said he fired a few shots from his handgun and believes he hit the red dog.

The two dogs took off running in opposite directions in the 300 block of East McGee Street, Corcoran said.

The red dog started coming back to Corcoran, he said, so he fired another round at the dog, which then fled the area.

This was the second time that day the dogs had threatened Corcoran, he said.

"They were going yard-to-yard looking for trouble," he said. "They were vicious. They tried to attack me."

Corcoran said he was working on the back porch of a home when the dogs first approached and he had to fend them off.

The dogs then harassed a neighbor's dog, Corcoran said, and the neighbor called animal control.

About 20 to 30 minutes later, he heard the postal worker honking.

Several police officers and an animal control officer responded to scene at about 11 a.m.

The two dogs were nowhere to be seen.

Police officers bent down to look under a minivan parked in a driveway. The animal control officer scooped out a cat from under the van.

The cat's owner, who lived where the minivan was parked, arrived on scene shortly thereafter.

C.J. Taylor spoke with the News-Leader and said the cat's name was Mr. Lilly. Taylor said he has a 9-year-old daughter and his family has had Mr. Lilly for pretty much her whole life.

Taylor said he wasn't sure if his cat was going to live and was getting ready to take him to the veterinarian.

"Those dogs destroyed my little girl's life," Taylor said, "She's not gonna be happy."

Taylor said he was grateful for the actions of Corcoran, which could have spared Mr. Lilly's life.

"I'd have done the same thing," Taylor said.

Taylor then spoke briefly with Corcoran before taking Mr. Lilly to the vet.

Corcoran said he was surprised to learn the cat was still alive.

"It looked like they were trying to play tug-of-war with it," Corcoran said. "I'm just grateful it's a cat, not a kid."

The shooting comes two days after a pit bull was shot in a west Springfield home.

That pit bull, Blu, was protecting his owner during a home invasion, according to the owner's brother. Blu suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Pit bulls and pit bull ownership have been hotly contested issues in Springfield.

Two Springfield toddlers were attacked by a neighbor's pit bull in July.

Two Springfield pit bulls were shot to death, days apart, in October.

Springfield City Council approved a gradual ban on pit bulls in October in a 5-4 vote. Upset with the decision, residents collected enough to signatures to put the issue to a citywide vote.

Residents will vote in August on whether to repeal the controversial ban on pit bulls after more than 7,800 people signed a petition.