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Two dogs involved in a frightening attack on a Dix Hills couple have been ordered removed from their home following a Suffolk County court hearing.
The dogs were taken Friday to the Town of Huntington Animal Shelter, where they will remain pending the outcome of the case.
The incident happened Aug. 10 on Blossom Street. Video obtained by News 12 shows the dogs attacking a 63-year-old woman and her 65-year-old husband. Police say both victims suffered several bite marks.
A Good Samaritan who intervened was also targeted.
“I went over there, pulled the dog off and the other dog started coming at me,” said Anthony Long, who tried to help. “And I actually used the dog to block the one dog.”
Neighbors say the same animals were involved in a separate incident last month in which a teenager riding an e-bike was attacked.
Patrick Stanton, who lives in the neighborhood, said residents are relieved the dogs have been removed.
“It was just a looming sense of fear every time you stepped outside,” Stanton said. He added that his children have been staying inside and were traumatized by the incidents.
The dogs’ owner, Anastasia Tarnaras, maintains the animals are not aggressive and says they escaped after a gate was accidentally left open by a realtor and, on another occasion, by a gardener.
“The dogs sleep in our bed,” Tarnaras said.
Tarnaras also criticized neighbors for going to court rather than speaking with her directly.
“You think I want to go home and take my poor babies to a shelter?” she said. “They could have come like neighbors and said, ‘Get the dogs out of the neighborhood.’ They didn’t have to make it a circus.”
A spokesperson for the Town of Huntington says the dogs will be held at the shelter until the case is resolved.
Another hearing is scheduled for next week.