Dogs escape home after owner's death; woman severely injured in attack: Officials

PERRIS, Calif. (KTLA) -- After two pit bulls attacked a woman and left her severely injured in Perris Thursday, officials discovered the dogs' owner had apparently been dead for some time inside his home nearby.

The woman was walking and pushing her bike when the dogs targeted her around 4 p.m. in the 21000 block of Corina Drive, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services said in a news release.

Neighbors ran to help after the woman began yelling, and one man said the dogs continued their assault as she lay on the ground. One dog was going for her neck while the other bit her shoulder, the witness told a sheriff's deputy at the scene.

The woman was taken to a hospital, while officials captured and impounded the dogs.

The deputy who responded to investigate followed the dogs as they retreated to a nearby property and discovered a man, believed to be their owner, dead inside the home.

His body was badly decomposed. It's unknown how long it had been there, but no foul play is suspected, authorities said.