DEPUTY KILLS DOG SHORTLY AFTER GIRLS BRUTALLY ATTACKED.

Byline: Jim Skeen and Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

A sheriff's deputy shot and killed a 120-pound bull mastiff after it attacked sisters ages 9 and 10 as they roller-skated in the street in front of its house, officials said.

Neighbors used a garden hose, a piece of wood and a hatchet to force the dog to release the younger girl as it held her to the pavement, and it finally retreated to its owner's front yard, where the deputy shot it minutes later as it appeared ready to attack her again, officials said.

``When the deputy got there the dog was still there and was still acting aggressive,'' said sheriff's Sgt. Scott Brickert. ``The deputy fired two rounds from a shotgun, killing the dog instantly.''

Both girls were taken by ambulance to Antelope Valley Hospital, the younger girl bleeding from half-inch cuts on her scalp, cheek and neck from the dog's bites, and the other with a bite on her buttocks, firefighters said.

Their names were not released.

A fire captain characterized the wounds as ``relatively minor'' and likely to leave no permanent damage.

``They were both traumatized because of the dog, of course,'' fire Capt. Ted Lindaman added.

Both girls were expected to be treated and released from the hospital Monday night, said hospital spokesman Gary Cothran.

The mother of the dog's owner said the children were teasing the dog while it was tied to a tree in the front yard, but there are no other witnesses to confirm or deny that, said Officer Jeff Thompson of Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control.

``When she went outside to ask the children to leave is when the dog broke loose,'' Thompson said.

A necropsy will be performed to see whether the dog had rabies, Thompson said.

The dog apparently attacked the younger girl first as she skated in the 1900 block of East Avenue R-10 about 3:15 p.m. Monday, officials said.

``I was watching TV when I heard terrible screaming,'' said Toni Cassel, 43, a neighbor across the street.

When she went to the window, Cassel said, she saw the dog on top of one of the girls and the other girl was screaming at the animal to let her sister go.

Cassel said she turned on her garden hose and tried to shove it down the dog's throat to get him to release the girl, but that did not work. Another neighbor tried to get the dog to release the girl by striking him with a piece of wood, but that did not work either.

Cassel went back into the house and called 911 and then grabbed an ax and went back outside.

Another neighbor passing by in his truck stopped and grabbed the ax from Cassel and hit the animal a couple of times on the head. When the animal released the girl, her sister started pulling her away.

``If we didn't try that girl would have died,'' Cassel said of their efforts.

The dog ran after the older sister and bit her in the back, Cassel said.

Cassel called for the second girl to come to her house for safety, and the dog then went back after the younger girl again, she said. Just then a deputy arrived and shot the dog.

Cassel said the owners of the dog were good neighbors and that she hadn't seen the dog until she saw it attacking the girls.

``They are very nice people. They are very caring people. They would not wish for this to happen,'' Cassel said.