Man badly hurt in attack by three pit bulls

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis man was in critical condition Wednesday after he was attacked by three pit bulls, authorities said.

Blood stains on the street and a torn shirt on a vacant lot were reminders of the attack at around 11 p.m. Sunday on Ealgie Edwards Sr., 55. Edwards, partially paralyzed from previous gunshot wounds, suffered injuries to his legs, groin, arms and chest. The attack happened as Edwards was walking down the street.

The owner of the dogs, Tommie Bledsoe, 40, was issued six court summonses for allowing the dogs to run loose and failing to have them vaccinated. He could be fined up to $500 on each count. No criminal charges have been filed, a police spokeswoman said. An investigation continued.

"I'm really at a loss for words about this," Edwards' daughter, Tawanda Payne, said. "I just don't understand how this can happen to a human being.

"I wouldn't want this on my worst enemy."

Neighbors rushed to help and tried to get the dogs to let go by hitting them with a rake, tools, even a broken brick and sledgehammer.

"They were like feeding on him, and there was nothing we could do," said one of the neighbors, Earl J. Brown, 52. "He was all ate up."

Animal control officers took the dogs and planned to euthanize them, probably next week.

Investigators said the attack was unprovoked and led by the 60-pound adult female pit bull, whose two offspring, 40 pounds each, followed.

"We're very concerned about any dogs that are of that breed that would be running loose, especially showing aggressive tendencies," Animal Control supervisor Rick Maurer said.

Bledsoe said the adult dog was chained, though the two smaller pit bulls were not. He thought all three dogs were in his yard, about a block north of where the attack occurred.

"I'm sorry for the man that got attacked by the dogs," he said.

In May 1996, Edwards was shot eight times when two gunmen burst into the basement of a rooming house. Three people died in the attack.

The dog attack occurred about six blocks from the park where 10-year-old Rodney McAllister was killed on March 5, 2001, in an attack by stray dogs.