Pit Bull Dog Attacks 2016: Owner Killed In Colorado, Son Injured In Conifer Home Mauling

A Colorado woman was killed Monday and her son was injured after a pair of pit bulls attacked them in their home, according to a new report.

The gruesome attack occurred in the town of Conifer around 7 p.m., the Denver Post reported. Deputies responded to a call that was placed around that time from the 31000 block of Black Widow Drive, a sheriff’s spokeswoman, Dionne Waugh, relayed to the local news outlet.

The victim, Susan Shawl, 60, was pronounced dead at the scene and her son, Richard Shawl, in his 30s, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, reported Fox News. Richard Shawl was later treated and released from the emergency room at the Swedish Medical Center in the town of Englewood. The mother and son were in their home when they were attacked by the two dogs, both of which were described as a terrier-pit bull mix.

A Jefferson County sheriff later confirmed that Richard Shawl had been issued a "warning notice" concerning the aggressive nature of the two dogs back in 2008 following a neighbor's complaint, according to 9News.com.

It took officials about 30 minutes to corner and round up the dogs following the attack. The animals were taken into the custody of the Jefferson County Animal Control and were later euthanized.

Shawl’s neighbors relayed that she and her family often kept to themselves and that the family had the dogs on the property for at least eight years. A neighbor, Bonnie Bogart, said during that time she never saw the dogs outside of their pen in their yard.

“I’ve never seen them loose and I’ve never seen them walk the dogs like everybody else in the neighborhood does,” Bogart told 9News. “But they do occasionally bark.”

Police did not immediately release any information about what transpired prior to the attack, and an investigation was underway.

The ASPCA recently wrote that each year in the U.S. approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized, and 1.2 million of them are dogs. In the same piece, the American Humane Association reported that around 10-percent of pet owners in the U.S. relinquish or give away their dogs because of behavioral issues.