CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Animal control officers were searching Wednesday evening for the owners of a dog that attacked a man, badly injuring his leg.
Officers investigating the incident on Braveheart Lane, near Oakdale Road, did not immediately release the victim's name.
The dog, a mixed breed with features similar to an American Bulldog, was in quarantine at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control and Care shelter.
Neighbor Marion Weaks said the animal's owners moved out of their rental home earlier this week, leaving the dog behind.
He said the dog was sitting near the front porch of a home in the 1200 block of Braveheart Lane at around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday. The owner of the home tried to coax the animal off his property.
"As he was shooing him away, the dog just got vicious," Weaks said. "He just turned on him all of the sudden, just started biting him."
The man, believed to be in his 40s, was able to get away from the animal and stumbled back into the house, according to Weaks.
Medic later arrived and transported the man to a hospital. His condition was not known.
A message left with the owner of the rental property where the dog had lived with the former tenants was not immediately returned.
An animal control supervisor said additional details of the incident, including possible citations for the dog's owners, would not be available until Thursday.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police received 989 reports of abandoned animals between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, a call volume slightly higher than the 936 reports received for the same period from 2008-2009.
