It seemed like a normal day, just walking through the streets, when suddenly the unexpected happened. Francesco Bove is lucky to be alive. A 62-year-old man, he was mauled and nearly killed in a vicious attack by two pit bulls in the Bronx, as witnesses frantically tried to intervene and help, police stated Saturday. Francesco Bove was heading into Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Belmont Ave. and E. 187th St. about 9:30 a.m. Friday when the dogs apparently broke free of their harnesses and suddenly attacked, as they began clawing and biting him — an attack so violent that a priest at Mount Carmel gave Bove last rites. Everything was caught on a cellphone camera from a tenement in which the canines were seen repeatedly biting Bove. At one point they dragged him from the middle of the street to the curb, each taking a shoulder.

As the dogs approached, he thought they wanted to be petted, but the canines had something else in mind. “They came to me, and I thought they were friendly but they jumped on me and I felt the bite,” he said. “I started to kick them off. I lost a big chunk of my arm. I could see it. I could see the bone.” The dogs also ripped off most of his right ear. All Bove saw was red blood. “My ear, I couldn’t see it, but there was blood everywhere,” the native of Isernia, Italy, said. In the video, another man steps in to help after Bove is knocked to the ground. The man uses his hands and legs, trying to keep the dogs at bay, but the animals seemed to find their way back to Bove. The good Samaritan was eventually knocked down on his feet. Screams and yells were heard. "Let him go!" someone voices. At least eight people on the street tried and attempted to help as the pit pulls drag Bove away from the small crowd. A woman can be heard off camera. It seems she is frantically calling 911. "These two dogs are outside attacking this man!" One man is seen firing a stream of water at the dogs with a hose while Bove lies in a pool of blood. “I think I’m going to die,” Bove said at the time according to his son Anthony. “But the priest made him promise that he will fight until the end.” He was taken to the hospital and now Bove is in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital on Saturday. He's well on the way to recovery, and fortunately he made it out alive on the brutal encounter. Bove went five hours of surgery Friday night and is expected to stay in the hospital at least a week to undergo another surgery to move a nerve from his leg into his arm, according to his son said. In other words, the owner of the dogs, Oliver, was arrested on eight counts of assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. She remained in jail on $35,000 bail Saturday, officials said. Check out the video and see for yourself the horrendous encounter!

What do you think of the video? Should dogs not be left roaming around the streets to avoid any incidents like this from happening? Let us know your thoughts and leave us a comment down below!