Montrose man uses taekwondo skills to defend dog from pitbull

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Montrose man said his taekwondo training helped defend his dog after a pitbull attacked his pet during a walk.

Fred Schiller said it happened May 5 at the corner of Indiana and Morse streets when the pitbull charged toward him and his dog, Verve, from across the street.

"The next thing I know is that pitbull makes a beeline," Schiller told Eyewitness News in an interview ONLY ON 13.

Schiller said the pitbull quickly took hold of Verve, chomping down on his neck.

"I started kicking the pitbull," Schiller recalled.

But when the dog wouldn't drop Verve, Schiller said he had to resort to more extreme measures.

"I took the pitbull to the ground, and I started punching him in the head," he said. "I kept punching and punching. He wouldn't drop him. My dog was screaming. His eyes were bulging out. I thought he was gonna die."

Ellen Blasio said she tried intervening.

"Without thinking, I ran over to kind of grab the little dog," she said.

Blasio was bitten multiple times on one of her hands. Schiller was also bitten on one of his hands but ultimately managed to restrain the attacking dog.

"I kept the pitbull pinned down with his head in mud 'cause I thought, 'OK, if I let this thing up, I'm next,'" Blasio said.

That's when Schiller said the dog's owner drove up.

"She gets out of her car, and she says, 'That's my dog,'" Schiller remembered.

After days of trying, BARC finally tracked the owner down Thursday afternoon and said she agreed to bring the dog in for quarantine to watch for signs of rabies.

But BARC said she likely won't be cited for having her dog off leash since none of its officers witnessed that for themselves.

"I said, 'That's all you're gonna do?' I said, 'This dog almost killed my dog. It's a danger,'" Schiller said.

BARC said Schiller could still go to a justice of the peace court and file to have the dog declared dangerous. A judge would then rule on the matter.

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