Two Dogs Kill Man, His Small Dog

Two dogs killed a 75-year-old man in a wheelchair and his small dog and attacked two other people who tried to come to his rescue, authorities said.

“It was an unprovoked attack,” said Lt. Bob Stewart of the Yakima Fire Department. “The two dogs were loose in the neighborhood.”

The dead man was identified as Walter Feser by the Yakima County sheriff’s office.

Feser, bitten on the arms, torso and legs, was taken to Providence Yakima Medical Center and then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died.

The attack occurred about 3 p.m. Friday. Feser was in his wheelchair in his back yard with his small dog when two dogs described as pit-bull types ran onto the property.

The dogs killed Feser’s pet and then turned on him, the sheriff’s office said.

Stewart said Feser was able to call for assistance with a “lifeline” signaling device.

County animal control officers caught the dogs and quarantined them.

Sgt. Paul Wilson of the sheriff’s office said the dogs’ owner is in the process of moving to the coast and had left the dogs with a friend.

The friend said there had been no indication the dogs were vicious.

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