‘I thought he was dying:’ Woman says service dog was attacked by another dog in St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Augustine woman wants to ensure a dog is in responsible hands after she said her service dog was attacked by another dog.

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Action News Jax obtained Ring Camera video of the attack. In the video, you can hear the service dog’s painful cry for help.

“I thought he was dying,” said Haley Hubbard. “I thought that the dog was going to rip his lip off.”

Haley said this was an unprovoked attack by another dog in the patio area of the St. Augustine coffee shop.

Haley works in downtown St. Augustine and she is dressed in costume for work.

“I was feeling mortified,” said Haley. “I was feeling frightened, I was panicking, I felt like there was nothing else I could do other than to pry that dog’s mouth open and to let go of my service dog’s lip.”

Haley says last Thursday, she was grabbing coffee with her service dog, Kingsley when the attack happened.

“I saw this Pitbull, she was sitting, and she looked so sweet I was about to compliment her and then she was on my right side and then she came around to the left side and attacked my dog’s upper left lip,” said Haley.

Haley jumped right in and stuck her hand inside the other dog’s mouth to try and take its teeth off Kingsley’s mouth.

“I got my finger bit quite a bit,” said Haley.

And like Haley was there for Kingsley during this attack, her best pal is always there for her when she has seizures.

“He does a sharp bark before I have a seizure,” said Haley.

Haley has had three brain surgeries and relies on Kingsley for her health.

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After an attack like this one, the director of warrior operations for K9′s For Warriors said this affects the dog mentally and physically.

“Her dog helps her detect when she’s about to have a seizure, that’s the task the dog was trained to do,” said Mike Drafts, K9s For Warrior’s director of operations. “Now the dog can be distracted by looking for other dogs that could attack it and now distract it from doing its job.”

Now Haley wants the other dog in responsible hands.

“I believe that the dog needs new owners,” said Haley.

Action News Jax Alexus Cleavenger reached out to animal control for more details on the incident but is still waiting to hear back.

And a state bill filed would require dogs to be confiscated during dangerous dog investigations.

READ: New Florida bill would create ‘dangerous dog registry’ and require liability insurance

If they’re determined to be dangerous, owners would have to keep their dogs securely confined behind a locked fence while outdoors or inside their homes.

“At the end of the day, if you can’t control the animal, can’t control the behavior of the animal and it’s a menace, you have to take some additional action,” said State Representative Bobby Payne (R-Palatka).

The legislation also would require the creation of a dangerous dog registry, so members of the public could search and identify where dangerous dogs are living in their neighborhood.

If passed, the bill would take effect starting July 1st.

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