A local woman and her children are mourning the loss of her dog, Peanut, after she was mauled to death by another dog.
The attack happened at the Southbrook Condominiums, where management tells First Coast News the dog that attacked Peanut was prohibited from being there in the first place due to its size.
Jennifer Gant says she had Peanut for six years and loved her dearly. She's still in disbelief over what happened.
"Yesterday we were out for a walk like a normal morning when a dog charged from across the way and immediately tried to get her, I tried to scoop her up," said Gant.
She says she was overpowered by the larger dog, which the Humane Society says is named Raegan. Gant described the larger dog as a shepherd pit-bull mix, weighing about 75 pounds. The Humane Society calls her a "mixed breed" and says they cannot associate her with any physical characteristics of a pit or pit mix.
The policy at Southbrook is no pets over 20 pounds. Gant says several of her neighbors violate that policy.
"From that moment forward I couldn’t get the dog to let go of peanut," said Gant.
While she screamed for help she was also bitten by the dog, neighbors responded a few minutes later.
"Luckily [one of the neighbors] came down and jumped on top of the dog while another person punched the dog in the face."
By then, it was too late for Peanut.
First Coast News tried to reach out to the neighbor who was fostering the dog that attacked Peanut but wasn’t able to make contact.
The policy at Southbrook is no pets over 20 pounds. Gant says several of her neighbors violate that policy.
Southbrook is operated by Elim Services. Some neighbors complained that Elim Services doesn't enforce the pet policy rules, but the homeowner’s association says they are cracking down on their pet policy and that could mean evictions.
After the attack, Peanut was rushed to an emergency vet clinic but couldn’t be saved.
First Coast News learned that the larger dog, Ragean, was from the Humane Society and was doing an overnight stay with a family in the complex.
Ragean was supposed to be returned the day of the attack. Now Raegan is back in their control, under a state-law required quarantine for ten days.
The Humane Society says they will cover Gant’s vet bills but Gant says money won’t fix what happened.
"She was crying, she was in so much pain, I can only imagine because I [can] feel [pain from] some [of the] bites on me, but I wasn’t the one ripped wide open."
After the ten-day quarantine, the humane society will then make a decision on how to handle the dog that attacked Peanut.
The Humane Society sent us the following statement in response to the deadly attack:
“Our hearts go out to Peanut’s family, as fellow animal lovers, we can only imagine how very difficult this must be for them. This was a tragic, unforeseen accident and we are deeply sorry for their loss. We are working with appropriate regulatory agencies and following required quarantine procedures in regards to the dog in question. We express our deepest condolences to the family of Peanut.”