Off-leash pit bulls maul, kill chihuahua

San Francisco police are looking for the owner of two dogs who attacked and killed a Chihuahua in San Francisco’s Crocker-Amazon neighborhood.

The victim, a 52-year-old woman, told police she was walking her dog Joey, a Chihuahua mix, in the 600 block of Brunswick Street around 4:30 p.m. when two unleashed dogs ran toward her from across the street.

The woman picked Joey up, but the two dogs knocked her to the ground and then attacked the Chihuahua.

The attack was so vicious that the victim was dragged across the pavement as she held on to Joey’s leash in an effort to protect him, police said.

The dogs mauled the Chihuahua, and then ran away east on Lowell Street. A male subject thought to be the dogs’ owner left the area without expressing any remorse or providing contact information, police said.

A bystander helped the victim take Joey to a veterinary hospital on Mission Street, where he died.

Police Wednesday released photos of the dogs and asked anyone who recognizes them or knows their owner to contact them. Police said in a statement:

“The sudden and unprovoked attack on the victim and the fatal mauling of ‘Joey’ indicates that these dogs are a risk to public safety and must be seized pending a vicious and dangerous dog hearing.”

The dogs were described as pit bulls or similar breeds. One of them was brown and white with a pink collar, weighing around 70 pounds. The second was brown, weighing around 80 pounds and wearing a gray collar.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, starting the message with “SFPD.” Calls can also be made to the SFPD Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit at (415) 553-9182.