Summary The puppies belonged to an abandoned neighbourhood dog that Panuco’s mom was feeding.
(Web Desk) - Emily Panuco, 26, took her son to see puppies at her mother's house when the attack occurred.
A young mother of two has been killed while defending her six-year-old son from three attacking dogs in California.
Emily Panuco, 26, from Parker, Arizona, had driven her son across the state line to rural Big River, California, on 27 February so he could see a litter of puppies at her mother’s home.
The puppies belonged to an abandoned neighbourhood dog that Panuco’s mom was feeding.
According to local authorities, when Panuco's son approached the puppies to pet them, three adult dogs, including the puppy’s mother, suddenly attacked him.
Panuco stepped in, putting herself between the animals and her son, and managing to push the boy into the car during the attack.
“She somehow got him into the car, and maybe she wasn’t able to get in because the car was still running, the door was open,” said her mother in law, Esther Panuco.
“I think that was her first instinct, that she didn’t even think about what would happen to her, that she needed to save her son,” she said.
The six-year-old survived the attack with bites to his legs, arms and back. Panuco did not.
Her body was discovered by her mother who returned home the following day.
“Her mom is grieving very much too. She found her, she was not home. When she got there later on they had been there for a little while,” her mother-in-law said.
The boy witnessed the entire attack, she said. “He saw everything, he saw the whole attack."
Panuco leaves behind her husband, Richie, their six year old son and a seven month old baby.
