Man mauled to death by his own dogs at park

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A young man was killed by his own dogs at a San Diego park on Friday.

Officials captured the dogs over the weekend, but the community is still shaken.

Neighbors said it was a scary afternoon in Mira Mesa after three dogs attacked and killed their owner.

There’s now a growing memorial for the man who was killed, with candles, a basketball, and words like “We love you” and “Soon to be a daddy” written on the sidewalk in chalk.

The owner, identified as 26-year-old Pedro Ortega, was with his son by a playground when he was mauled by his own three dogs.

Witnesses were trying to break up the attack by hitting the dogs with golf clubs.

When the officers arrived, they used a Taser on the canines as they ran off.

Moments after the attack, video captured one of the dogs walking into a nearby garage.

The homeowner there stayed still to not provoke the dog, which he said was panting and covered in blood that he realized wasn’t his own.

“He was skinny. You could see all of his ribs,” the neighbor described. “He was covered in blood head to toe, so it was probably not his own, and he had a Taser dart sticking out of him.”

Remnants of the encounter were still visible days later.

“We still have blood on the car from where he wiped his face when he went through it,” the neighbor added.

The other dogs also ran off after the attack, prompting a lockdown at a nearby elementary school.

All three were eventually captured, put into a bite quarantine and humanely euthanized after being signed over by a second owner.

Police say a second victim suffered serious bite injuries and is now recovering in the hospital.

“I’ve never seen anything like this happen here before and hope it never happens again,” the neighbor said.

A humane society in the area determined the dogs were an XL bully breed.