Pet dog stabbed in head by man in Woodland Hills, neighbors' help pay for medical bills

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (FOX 11) - A Woodland Hills family has the best and worst of human nature in just a couple days. A stranger stabbed their dog in the head during a walk in their neighborhood. But now their neighbor's generosity is helping to save that dog's life.

Sedated, in pain, and wearing the so-called "cone of shame," Coco sits in a cage - her new home for the next two months - while her owner tries to feed her soft kibble. Oscar and Adam Kaiz-Vera rescued the 8-and-a-half-year-old female terrier mix from the shelter six years ago. Two days ago, just around the corner from their house in the 5500 block of Patellar Avenue, their 15-year-old son was walking Coco and their shih tzu, when Coco pulled away and ran up to a stranger with a folding knife.

I'm just trying to picture it with my son seeing a man there waving a knife at our tiny dog," said Adam Kaiz-Vera. "My son yelled, 'she's just a little dog.' He yelled 'stop' twice and the man said 'I fear for my life,' like he made a proclamation. The neighbor said that he yelled out, 'dog or human, I will protect myself."

"He could've stabbed your son," said Fox 11's Hailey Winslow.

"He could've stabbed my son," Adam agreed.

They say the man, either a transient or neighbor, walked away with the knife and they rushed little Coco to the vet with a deep wound and fractured skull.

"Because the fracture didn't break into the brain, that would've killed her right away, but because it was just a fracture and then it went into her sinuses also, that we're really lucky that she's alive," said Kaiz-Vera.

Fox 11 viewers may remember Adam and Oscar two Christmas's ago when we featured them on our Wednesday's Child segment for adopting a family of children. And even with their young kids, they say they've never had a problem with Coco.

Fortunately, the veterinarian expects Coco to fully recover.

Adam and Oscar just moved to the neighborhood about six months ago after they had to evacuate from the fires. They picked Woodland Hills because it's considered so safe. They haven't met many of their neighbors yet, but an outpouring of anonymous neighbors have reached out to the veterinary clinic and paid for half of Coco's $4,000 medical bills.