CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A Chesterfield man and his pit bulls are back in the news after at least one of his dogs bit a 13-year-old girl and killed a neighbor's poodle.
"They probably would have killed her out there," said Hazel Scott, who said that her granddaughter had to have 17 stitches after one of the dogs bit her leg.
CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George questioned the dogs' owner, William Branch, Monday afternoon.
William Branch
Branch reiterated that his dogs did not kill any goats, but admitted that the dogs did kill a poodle and bit the 13-year-old.
Branch called both incidents accidents and said that the animals were playing with the poodle when things went wrong.
When asked if his dog attacked the child when she got off the bus, he said, "As far as I know, yes he did." But he also said that the incident may have been prompted by the chopping down of a nearby tree.
"I think the cutting down of the tree aggregated the dogs and they became aggressive," Branch explained.
Branch promised to compensate the poodle's owners for her loss.
Following the two attacks, Branch maintained that his dogs should not be taken away from him. Two of his five dogs are currently in quarantine by the county as he prepares for court hearings.
"I don't feel they bit this child because they are vicious or dangerous, because there not that way," Branch added.
Additionally, Branch said that he feels targeted and said that the county has been "out to get him" for years.
"Each time they come, they come with the police," Branch said. "As if I am a criminal and I'm scared of these people."
But neighbor Sierra Watkins just wants justice after her grandma lost her beloved poodle.
"We are being terrorized. This needs to stop," Watkins said.
