Three dogs that fatally mauled their owner in a San Diego park will be euthanized

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Humane Society said it euthanized three dogs that fatally mauled their owner in a neighborhood park last week while horrified onlookers tried to help him.

A second person was hospitalized with bite injuries after the attack Friday afternoon at the children’s playground at the Mesa Viking Neighborhood Park in the Mira Mesa area, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The owner of the three XL Bully dogs died in a hospital. He has not been publicly identified.

One of the dogs was immediately secured in a vehicle and officers managed to confine the other two after they fled the scene. The Humane Society said Sunday that all three dogs were killed after a second owner agreed to humane euthanasia.

FOX 5 San Diego reported that other people in the park may have used a shovel and a golf club to intervene before police arrived and pointed a stun gun at the dogs to break up the attack.

“During this incredibly difficult time, our hearts and deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family,” Humane Society spokeswoman Nina Thompson said in a statement.

According to the National Kennel Club, XL Bullies are not officially recognized as a separate breed, but are a larger version of the Standard American Bully.