THURSDAY, Sept. 25 – County animal control officers confiscated a dog today that was involved in a serious attack Wednesday night (Sept. 24) in southwest Riverside County. He suffered severe injuries.

The victim, a pool-cleaning worker, was attacked while working at a property he had been to on multiple visits. A dog at the residence attacked him, causing serious injuries to his right arm. The dog also punctured his right thigh and the right side of the man's face was lacerated in several spots.

Animal Control Officer Carra Mathewson said the man was attacked for about a minute, maybe longer, when he was finally able to push the dog away and leap a fence to avoid further injuries.

The victim was already cleaning the pool for several minutes when the dog appeared behind him and put him on high alert, Mathewson said. She said the dog showed signs of aggression and the man apparently tried to keep a distance between himself and the dog, but then lost his footing, fell, and that's when the dog attacked.

The attack occurred just before 5 p.m. in the 4000 block of Sandia Creek Drive, in an unincorporated county area known as De Luz, southwest of Temecula and Murrieta.

The dog, an altered, 8-year-old pit bull/Labrador mix named Pigbert, was relinquished to Officer Mathewson and a colleague this afternoon. Riverside County Animal Services did not receive a call about the attack last night. A nurse where the man is hospitalized contacted the department earlier today.

Pigbert's owner carried the dog from his property to a waiting animal control truck. But officers were forced to use their control sticks when kenneling him at the county shelter in San Jacinto.

The dog will be held in a quarantine area at the county's San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus in San Jacinto, pending a hearing. There are no records of prior incidents related to this dog. At the hearing, Riverside County could recommend that the dog be humanely euthanized, due to the severity of the victim's injuries. Or the county could recommend the owner get his pet returned with strict guidelines.

Prior to Wednesday night's attack, the victim reportedly had advised Pigbert's owner that the dog had shown aggressive tendencies and he requested that the dog be restrained when he would be there, Officer Mathewson said.