An upstate New York man was mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls Wednesday, in an attack that didn’t stop until a cop shot one of the mongrels and scared the rest away, according to authorities.
The 10 vicious dogs set upon Schenectady resident James Provost, 59, at around 6 p.m. in a backyard next door to a suspected drug house where the beasts were kept, Albany police chief Eric Hawkins said.
“This was a horrific attack,” Hawkins said during a news conference streamed locally.
A blurred video of the attack obtained by CBS 6 shows the barking dogs pouncing on the man who was trying to fend off them off. The animals dragged him around as he appeared unconscious, according to the outlet.
After the dogs were well into their attack on Provost, a police officer arrived on scene and witnessed eight or nine of them surrounding the victim, police said.
The cop opened fire, gunning down one of the dogs and startling the other out-of-control animals so that they moved away from the victim.
The owner, who lives in Cohoes, and the dogs’ caretaker helped police gather the dogs back into the home, Hawkins said.
The fatal mauling took place in the backyard of a home next door to where the dogs lived with their owner, Hawkins said. Police don’t know how the victim ended up in that yard, as he didn’t live there.
“Somehow those dogs got out,” Hawkins said.
The home where the dogs were located was previously raided in May by authorities because of suspected drug activity, the top cop said.
Five to seven dogs were also confiscated at that time for safe keeping, before they were later released. It’s unknown if those dogs were tied to the fatal attack.
There were overall 24 mix-breed pit bulls, including 15 puppies, found at the home on Wednesday and given to a local humane society, Hawkins said.
No charges have been filed as of Thursday, but the probe is in the early stages.
“We’re still trying to determine why the victim was in the rear of the residence, we’re still trying to figure out why the owner of the dogs kept so many dogs at that location,” Hawkins said.
The fate of the dogs will be determined by the judicial system at a later date.
“We’re gonna find out who, if someone is criminally responsible for this,” he said, vowing justice for the slain man.