INDIANAPOLIS – In a story you'll see only on RTV6, we're talking to a southeast-side mother who used her gun for the very first time ever in order to save her children.
Mariah Hubbard, 23, is a mother of three.
She says she loves dogs and would never hurt one for no reason, but over the weekend, she was given no other choice.
RELATED | Girl's family sues after Noblesville dog attack
She ran outside when she heard screams to find a large pit bull attacking her neighbor’s puppy.
“Both of her paws were crushed,” neighbor Jessica Adkins said. “She was bleeding out of her nose. She was bleeding out of her mouth.”
Other neighbors we spoke to confirm that nothing they did would scare the dog away.
“He was coming back, and coming back. He was not stopping. He was going to kill,” Neighbor Tracy Bentley said.
RELATED | Family wants ordinance changed after bloody dog attack
The pit bull was alone and had no tags, and Maria says he was soon charging toward her kids.
That’s when she made the decision to pull out her .380 caliber gun, and for the first time ever, fire it. She legally owns the gun, but it didn’t make it any easier for her.
“I wasn’t going to take the chance of a dog tearing my kids apart,” Mariah said. “And that’s what was going to happen.”
She soon learned the dog belonged to a neighbor several streets away, who said the dog had escaped through a window.
RELATED | Carroll County man charged after dog attack
She’s now pleading with the city’s dog owners.
“Keep your dog on a chain – on a leash – in the yard,” Mariah said. “You have to supervise your dog just like your kids. If they get out, you never know what could happen.”
Police tell us no laws were broken in the case because she was clearly defending herself and her children, and owned the gun she used.
