DELTONA, Fla. – A man who stabbed his neighbor's pit bull is speaking out to defend his decision.
Martin Sierra told Local 6 he was walking his dog with his sister when a pit bull came running out and began attacking his sister. Sierra said he had no other choice but to stab the dog to protect his family.
"All I remember is the dog jumping on top of my sister and biting her arm," said Sierra.
Sierra said he tried to hit the 3-year-old dog but, "It wouldn't stop, it wouldn't stop and it wouldn't get off her."
He stabbed the dog with a 4-inch knife he was carrying.
Cassie Philbrick said her 3-year-old pit bull, Kaya, had deep stab wounds on her head and all down her side.
Philbrick said she was forced to put her dog down.
"The extent was above and beyond," said Philbrick. "If someone can do that to a dog, what else can they do?"
Sierra responded, "You're not sitting there counting. All you're saying is, 'Get off my sister,' and you do whatever you have to do."
"That dog protected me, you know, the dog did nothing but be loyal to me and my son and she doesn't deserve that," Phillbrick said.
Sierra's sister had to get rabies shots and is now recovering.
While Philbrick said her dog was just being loyal to her family, Sierra makes the same argument.
"It was either my sister or the dog," said Sierra.
This is the second pit bull incident in Volusia County, where the dog was killed after getting loose and attacking a neighbor.
Both cases are closed and no charges were filed in either case.