15-04-2025
Seattle woman arrested for pit bull attacks: ‘Let him do his thing'
The Brief
Seattle Police arrested a woman who claimed her pit bull was "the Chupacabra" and allowed it to attack other dogs.
One victim of the attacks took her dog to an animal hospital.
Investigators said the suspect even attempted to stop people from breaking up the fights.
SEATTLE - Seattle Police arrested a 30-year-old woman for letting her pit bull attack other people's pets on Friday.
A viral post on Reddit shows video of one of the attacks.
What we know
In the video, you can see a woman screaming as she tries to keep her dog away from the pit bull.
You can also see a person — matching the description of the suspect in the video — doing nothing to stop the attack.
Police reported the owner of the aggressive pit bull is Sydney Kelly.
What they're saying
According to the Seattle Police report that FOX 13 Seattle obtained, the victim tried to move her dog to the other side of the street to avoid the off-leash pit bull, but the dog charged her.
"The dog was off-leash and out of control. [The pit bull owner] was just kind of screaming, and running around following it, but then not grabbing him. Then she would intermittently grab him and let him go," said Alyssa Maenza.
Maenza lives where the attack happened. She tells FOX 13 Seattle she did not see the incident captured in the viral video.
However, she did see another similar attack from the same owner on the same day.
According to the police report, Kelly's dog attacked several pets on Friday.
"It's not a dog, it's the Chupacabra."
Investigators reported Kelly said her pit bull was not on a leash because "It's not a dog, it's the Chupacabra," according to the police report.
Investigators also reported Kelly was shouting "let him do his thing," as her dog was attacking, and that she tried to stop other people from breaking up the fight.
Kelly was arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
Seattle Animal Control tells FOX 13 Seattle her dog is in their custody.
According to Seattle Animal Control, there were at least 637 dog attacks in 2024.
Those numbers include dogs attacking dogs, dogs attacking humans, and dogs attacking other animals.
However, those numbers do not represent cases that Seattle Police respond to exclusively, or incidents where no case is filed, which usually happens when an owner leaves before investigators arrive.
If you have experienced an emergency involving an animal, you can report the cases through Seattle's Animal Control website.
The Source
Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel, with details from the initial Reddit post.
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