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Calif. Woman Whose Dog Fatally Mauled a Man Pleads Guilty, Can’t Own a Dog Again

A California woman whose dog fatally mauled a man has pleaded guilty in connection with the case.

Heather Anglin, 35, pleaded guilty to failure to control a dangerous animal that results in a person’s death after her pit bull killed 38-year-old Lasaro Macedo in Nov. 2019. She will be sentenced to up to three years and can never own a dog again.

According to police, Macedo and Anglin are both homeless. On the day he was attacked, Macedo stopped by Anglin’s homeless encampment, which was along a riverbed in Madera, to borrow a flashlight to use to go cycling. That’s when, say police, Anglin’s dog Two-Tone broke loose of his rope and attacked him.

“It was a sad tragic case that could have been avoided if she was a responsible pet owner,” Det. Sgt. Mark Trukki of the Madera Police Department tells PEOPLE.

Trukki says Anglin, who bred pit bulls, used her dogs for protection and they were protective of her and their surroundings.

“It is safe to say they were protecting their campsite,” he says. “The attack of Macedo was unprovoked. He had come to the camp site looking for Heather when he was attacked.”

Trukki says that during the attack, the dog dragged Macedo away from the campsite, where he died. Several people called police but were afraid to approach the dog.

“They were scared themselves,” he says. “Everyone who lived in that community were well aware of Heather and her animals. He was well known as aggressive and to stay away from him.”

When officers arrived, the dog charged them and they fatally shot him.

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Anglin was not there when the attack occurred and had left Two-Tone and four other dogs tied to different parts of a tree.

“At the time of the attack, she wasn’t there controlling the animals,” Trukki says.

Two-Tone had previously bitten a man and chased a couple up a tree.

Anglin will be sentenced on Feb. 21.

PEOPLE was unable to reach a lawyer for her.