Last week, Pepper, a resident of Zinnia Street, which intersects with Mantelli Drive near Santa Teresa Boulevard, took Sammy out for their afternoon walk. Pepper hadn't even left her front yard before her neighbors' dogs managed to push open their owners' fence and get loose, according to Maria Cabatingan, a Gilroy Police Department community service officer who deals with animal control calls.

"The lock wasn't secure enough," she said.

The dogs' owners were not home when the dogs got loose, Cabatingan said. At first, the two larger dogs began sniffing the terrier but then they attacked it and dragged it into the side yard of their owners' house, Cabatingan said.

"The attack was so fierce that the dogs ripped the little guy out of his collar," said Zinnia Street resident Joe Laguna, who was having lunch with his father - another Zinnia Street resident - when they were interrupted by Pepper's cries for help and Sammy's howls. "They were trying to tear it apart."

Neighbors found Pepper slumped over a bush, hyperventilating and covered in Sammy's blood and her own blood from where Sammy bit her.

"The pit bull was so intent on killing my dog," Pepper said. "I was kicking and hitting and screaming at it but I couldn't get it to take its eyes off Sammy. They were tearing him to shreds."

The response time from the authorities - police, fire, medical aid and animal control all came out - was "outstanding," Laguna said. Still, by the time Cabatingan arrived, the terrier was so injured that it required 24-hour care at an animal clinic in San Jose.

The Peppers received a call from the clinic soon after they dropped Sammy off, informing them that their beloved pet had died, Cabatingan said.

She took both the offending dogs into custody but released the bulldog to its owners soon afterward because it didn't have a prior history, she said. She held onto the pit bull awaiting permission from the owners to euthanize the dog or a pledge that they will secure liability insurance and better restrain their dog. Kennel costs at the police department run $85 for the first day and $20 for each additional day.

Both animals were then classified as level two dangerous dogs by the city's municipal code. A dog is classified as level two if it aggressively bites a person or kills a domestic animal. The city requires owners of level two dangerous dogs to be securely confined while at home and leashed and muzzled while in public. A level three dangerous dog - one that causes the serious injury or death of any person - shall be euthanized, according to municipal code.

The owners, who live on the west side of the 8800 block of Zinnia, did not answer a knock at their door Friday afternoon or Monday morning.

The owner was cited for allowing the dogs to escape from the backyard and not licensing the dogs, violations that carry a $100 fine per dog plus additional court fees, Cabatingan said.

Gilroy's leash law prohibits owners from walking their dogs in public without a leash, Cabatingan said. Keeping all dogs on leashes "would probably prevent half the bites we receive," she said. She could not immediately provide bite numbers.

Pepper and several supportive neighbors who reported similar vicious behavior from the bulldog and pit bull and "cavalier" behavior on the part of their owners blanketed the community with notices detailing the incident and forwarded a letter to Mayor Al Pinheiro. However, the owners did apologize for their dogs' behavior, Pepper said.

Still, "I think it was a horrible mistake, letting that dog go," Pepper said. "I want the laws changed. If a dog kills, they shouldn't get another chance. I don't believe in second chances. The next time, it could very easily be a little kid."

Pinheiro said the city council had planned to revisit the city's dog laws at a December meeting even before the recent attack on Zinnia Street.

"This incident makes it more immediate," he said. "There's no question I'd like to see laws harsh enough where it's the responsibility of the owner to take care of their dogs and keep them on a leash and where they should be."

Pinheiro, who has "always been scared of dogs," said he wants residents to be able to enjoy the company of their pets as long as they're not "doing damage to other dogs or people."

Recent incidents

1987 - On June 13, 2.5-year-old James Soto wandered out of his mother's sight at his home on Wright Avenue in Morgan Hill and went through a fence into the front yard of neighbor Michael Berry. Soto was attacked by Berry's pit bull and died the next morning. Berry was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree murder, the first time such charges had ever been brought against the owner in a dog mauling case in the United States. The dog, which allegedly was used in dog fights, was apparently guarding marijuana plants, according to records.

Morgan Hill enacted a dangerous dog ordinance shortly after the attack.

1989 - Berry was convicted Dec. 22 of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to three years, eight months in state prison and $500 in fines. The family won a judgment of $3.5 million after filing a $20 million lawsuit against Berry.

2005 - In Gilroy, a 1-year-old pit bull and at least one rottweiler killed a pet goat.

2009 - In Hollister this summer, two dogs - a chow and a terrier mix - were euthanized after they killed a neighbor's house cat.