Dog Killing Devastates Visiting Family

• Incident Draws Attention to Loose Canines on Beaches

BY ROBBY MAZZA

Last Sunday, on the beach just south of Paradise Cove Pier, a 10-month-old, approximately 35-pound, puppy was attacked and killed by four adult dogs.
The puppy, “Charlie,” was being walked on a leash, according to its owner, Amanda Benzaken. Benzaken, her husband David Morrison, son Finley, age seven, and daughter Keely, age 12, were visiting friends in Malibu for the weekend.
Benzaken said that she and her son Finley decided to take Charlie for a walk about 9:30 a.m., but Finley soon returned to the house.
Benzaken said she continued walking with Charlie, when four large dogs—two mastiffs, a German shepherd and an unidentifiable breed, circled them.
Frightened, Benzaken said she dropped the leash and began running, thinking the dogs were coming after her.
According to Benzaken, Charlie, cowered immediately when the first three dogs approached, at which point one of them pinned the puppy down and, when the leader of the pack, the second mastiff arrived, they began mauling the puppy, an attack that lasted about 10 minutes.
The 35-pound puppy was no match for the pack. “The mastiffs were anywhere between 120 and 150 pounds,” Benzaken said. “They were bigger than me.”
An animal lover and someone who has had dogs since she was two years old, Bezaken said “The dogs were wild, crazy killers.” She continued, “It was the most violent, horrific thing I have ever seen.”
She said she continued running, and about a quarter of a mile down the beach, ran into a dog walker, with four leashes in her hand, who claimed that the animals had escaped from the owners’ home on Point Dume.
Benzaken said she and her husband immediately took the puppy a local animal hospital where she said, it died about 10 minutes later.
Charlie’s death has hit the family hard, they said. A border collie mix, Charlie was adopted from a rescue group at eight weeks of age, when the family was facing a daunting challenge. “My husband had cancer last year, and we thought the puppy would heal the family,” she said, noting that Morrison is in remission now.
Benzaken called the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station and was referred to County Animal Control. When the Malibu Surfside News contacted Lost Hills to inquire if any charges could be filed, Lt. Scott Chew stated that law enforcement can become involved “if a person or animal is in danger,” saying that if the dogs had been released on purpose in order to kill the puppy, it would be animal cruelty. “We don’t have the equipment or the training for these cases. All we carry is pepper spray and our weapons.” Chew said that the Los Feliz family’s best recourse might be a civil action.
Benzaken said that when she called Animal Control, she was told by the officer that the most that could happen to the owners of the dogs would be that they could be fined for having more than the allowed number of dogs—Los Angeles County allows three dogs per home—and that they could be fined for having an unsecured fence.
Evelina Villa, the outreach assistant for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control said she could not comment further on the incident because it is an ongoing investigation.
Benzaken says her children are broken-hearted and that Keely was unable to attend school on Monday. She also expressed fear that the dog pack would wreak further havoc in the future. “I’m worried about small children and other dogs,” she said. “I’m very concerned that this does not happen again.”