Colton woman attacked by neighbor's 2 dogs

COLTON, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman was attacked by a pair of dogs in Colton Sunday morning. Her 11-year-old son came to the rescue, using his skateboard to drive the dogs away.

The attack happened as the woman and her son were out walking their own dogs on the 200 block of East O St. in Colton.

The two attacking dogs were held Monday in quarantine at an animal shelter in San Bernardino.

"He hit one of the dogs with the skateboard, trying to get it off," said Gina Palumbo. "He was a trooper. I'm very proud of him."

Resting at home the day after the attack, Palumbo knows her son helped to potentially save her life.

The attack happened Sunday morning as they walked their two German shepherd puppies to a local store.

"I wasn't doing anything, my puppies weren't being aggressive, we were just walking to go get milk and I was attacked," said Palumbo.

That's when two dogs believed to be American bulldogs escaped from their backyard and attacked.

The dogs broke through a back fence, then pushed through another fence and rushed to attack Palumbo on the sidewalk.

"I've never seen dogs act like that before, at all, and I was screaming for help and nobody was there -- there was people standing around, but they were too afraid," said Palumbo.

"I was really scared, because two big dogs like that were really vicious," said Palumbo's son, 11-year-old Anthony Rodriguez.

Rodriguez acted quickly to protect his mother, using his own skateboard to fight off the two dogs.

"I hit one with it and it backed off, and I smacked the skateboard on the ground and they both backed off," said Rodriguez.

Palumbo was injured on her leg and her chest and was hospitalized.

Joanna Holguin says the dogs belong to her family. She says she witnessed the entire attack.

"And I was scared and frightened at the same time, because it was only me and I didn't know what to do to protect the lady, so I felt like it's my fault, but it's not, it's the dogs' fault," said Holguin. "The dogs didn't listen this time."

Asked if she thought the dogs should be euthanized, Palumbo said, "Yeah, I do."

A decision to put the dogs down had not been released Monday afternoon.

Colton police say the dogs' owners face charges relating to having a vicious animal, having a dog off its leash and having an unlicensed dog.

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