Spared pit bull mix attacks Long Island teen, euthanized hours later

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (WABC) -- Officials say a pit bull mix deemed "sociable" on behavioral tests was euthanized after viciously attacking his new owner's teenage daughter just seconds after he was brought home.

Sixteen-year-old Briana Neira remains hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital with severe injuries to her face and arm.

Dad Stephen Neira says the family was trying to do the right thing and save a dog that was about to be put down, but that all changed once 2-year-old Alex entered the house.

"For me as a parent, it was just awful, terrifying," Stephen Neira said.

Neira, 40, bought Alex on Thursday after seeing him on a website for rescuing "death row" pets. Alex was scheduled to be put down in 22 minutes when Neira bought him at the Animal Care Centers of New York City. The ad suggested he was sociable and could go to an average home.

"Thirty minutes to save his life, so we did immediately," he said. "We called and said, 'OK, hold the dog, don't euthanize this dog, we'll take him.'"

But the moment the 42-pound dog entered the house, he made a beeline for Briana.

"Did a full lunge to my daughter," Stephen Neira said. "A full lunge. Not a sniff, not a check. He was in the house 10 seconds, if that, at this point in time. He went right for her face, for her throat and it was just, went into a wrestling match after that. It was awful."

He quickly rushed to fight the dog and save his daughter.

"The dog was suspended in the air, and I got behind it and out in a choke hold," he said. "And then I figured I would just swing him back and forth and try to get momentum to throw him further enough so I could get to the gate and get out."

But it took a neighbor to come save him from being bitten, too.

"Yelling in my house, 'the dog's attacking him! The dog's attacking him!'" neighbor Bill Samulik said, "And kept on going."

He is making it clear that he does not blame the dog or the breed, but they have a lot of questions about the adoption process and how quickly it moves. They want new steps to be taken to ensure this doesn't happen to any other families out there.

"It went from us doing this, you know, great dog saving rescue and adding a new family member to defending for her life and then now, you know, people out there saying that I'm blaming the dog," he said. "And that wasn't the case. I just want the entire process to slow down. That's what I want. The people involved in the fostering and adoption process feel the same way I do."

Briana remains hospitalized Monday after undergoing plastic surgery.

Suffolk police tranquilized Alex and took him to the Brookhaven animal shelter, where he was euthanized.