Dogs confiscated in Rush after attack on pizza delivery man

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RUSH, N.Y. (WHEC) — Three dogs that attacked a pizza delivery man last week are now in the custody of the Town of Rush. It took several days to remove them from the home where the incident happened. The dogs will now be evaluated by a certified animal behaviorist before the town decides what will happen next.

Carl Groth was delivering food to a home along East Road in Rush on Oct. 16 when he was attacked by three dogs.

“One just grabbed onto my arm and immediately just started pulling and then the other dog came and grabbed my leg,” he described to News10NBC.

Groth said the woman who ordered the food he was delivering just stood there and watched as he yelled for help while fighting off the dogs. He eventually got to his delivery car and called 911. He suffered multiple bites to his arms and legs and was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

While a Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the scene, the owner of the dogs did not answer the phone and the deputy deemed the situation too dangerous to go to the door. For the next several days, the dogs remained at the home because the owner didn’t answer her phone and when the dog control officer visited.

“He went to the site [home] and he reported back to me that the dogs threatened him and I said I don’t want you to get injured I don’t want you to go there let’s figure out another way,” explained Rush Town Supervisor Gerald Kusse.

Eventually, with the help of Lollypop Farm, the owner of the dogs surrendered them to a local animal hospital on Monday. She appeared on Wednesday in Rush town court for a dangerous dog hearing. The owner is a woman with a health condition that prevents her from speaking clearly, she looks like she weighs less than 100 pounds.

“Obviously, you saw the woman’s physical condition… she can’t handle these dogs whether or not there’s someone there living with her or not there was nobody there at that time to protect me from them and I didn’t go there because I was trying to sell Girl Scout cookies, I went there because she invited me,” Groth said.

The owner of the dogs did not want to speak with News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke. In court, through a friend, she apologized to Groth for what he was going through but said the dogs had never attacked anyone in the past.

All three dogs are unlicensed. The Rush Town Justice determined the dogs were dangerous and required the owner to pay for an evaluation of each dog by a certified behaviorist. He’ll take that into consideration when determining whether the animals will be put down. The next court hearing is on Nov. 8.