EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A pet owner is devastated after she said her cat was mauled by two aggressive dogs Thursday night.
She believes "Tiger" may have saved her life.
"He’s my baby. Miss him bad," said Brandi Miller. "I thank God for him."
Miller left for the store, and believes Tiger must have gotten outside when she left. When she returned, little Tiger ran up to her car to greet her. As soon as she cracked open her door, the dogs arrived.
"Two black big pit bulls that almost looked like horses charged towards me," she said.
She retreated back to her car, but she didn't have enough time to grab Tiger.
"This is where I found him," said Miller.
Only tufts of hair still remain in the grass where she found him.
She's left with impossible questions that may never be answered.
"Why aren’t they chained up? Whose dogs are these that they don’t know their dogs are missing already? Where did they come from?" she said.
Miller suspected they were stray dogs, but Janet Roberts with Gateway Pet Gaurdians said, strays have become fewer in number in East St. Louis since they began offering free spay and neutering.
"And that has significantly cut down on the stray dog population. Now, it’s more of a roaming at large population," said Roberts.
She believes it's very likely these dogs have homes.
"They probably got off their tie offs or chains and they probably were out strolling and saw Tiger and attacked Tiger," said Roberts.
In the meantime, Brandi is afraid these dogs may hurt others or even return back here.
"They’re killers. Anything that moves they’re trained to kill," said Miller.
The next time, she won't have her fearless Tiger to draw them away.
"If he wasn’t right there, they would have probably gotten me," said Miller.
Gateway Pet Guardians is now assisting Brandi to cremate the remains of Tiger.
That’s not normally a service they provide, but say they’re stepping in because East St. Louis is notorious for the lack of resources available to pet owners.
In fact, the nearest vet to Miller is across the river in Missouri.
Miller still needs help paying for the cremation. If you'd like to donate, click here.
