Neighbors: Dogs involved in Tarentum mauling were a concern before the attack

Tyneisha Johnson heard piercing cries coming from somewhere near her Tarentum apartment.

Johnson, 37, thought the sounds Tuesday morning might be coming from a television, but that wasn’t the case.

The noise, including frantic screams and barking, was from a nearby apartment, where police said a man was severely attacked by his own dogs.

“I still can’t believe I still … hear the screams in my head,” Johnson said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, emergency crews responded to reports that 37-year-old Brandon Baynes had been mauled by his three dogs while inside his apartment in a Allegheny County Housing Authority complex on Creek Street. Baynes, police said, had to be airlifted to a hospital with severe facial injuries.

Nobody answered the door at Baynes’ residence Wednesday, and the complex was quiet.

Baynes’ condition following the attack was unclear Wednesday.

Johnson said the pit bulls had been a recurring problem in the community since last year, as Baynes and his girlfriend often let them outside the apartment without a leash or supervision.

“There’s kids around here, plenty of families with kids,” Johnson said.

“The kids ride their bikes, are skating and … the (school) bus stop is literally right there,” she said, gesturing to the road just outside her apartment.

Johnson said neighbors have complained about the dogs being potentially dangerous and roaming free since Baynes moved into the unit.

Neither the Allegheny County Housing Authority nor the complex’s property manager could be reached Wednesday for comment.

“I know the neighbor who lives right next to them; they have a son who’s actually in the same grade as my daughter. His parents have said things because he’s a high-schooler,” Johnson said, about the boy being scared to be on their shared front porch because of the dogs. “Last week he was scared to go in his house, scared to come outside. And you shouldn’t have to feel like that in your own home.”

Tarentum Police Lt. Mark Glogowski said Tuesday all three of the dogs were found at the scene covered in Baynes’ blood.

The status of the three pit bulls was unclear Wednesday, but Glogowski said previously police are working to have the dogs declared dangerous.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the dogs will be euthanized. In fact, under state law, even if declared dangerous, the dogs could remain with Baynes at the apartment.

According to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, a dog can be classified as “dangerous” if it inflicts severe injury on a person without provocation, kills or seriously injures a domestic animal while off its owner’s property, attacks a person unprovoked, has a history of such attacks, or has been used to commit a crime.

Shannon Powers, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the bureau, said if a dog is declared dangerous, the state cannot require it to be euthanized, but the owner must meet a series of requirements.

Those include: registering the dog with the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement; paying a $1,000 application fee per dog; confining the dog indoors in a securely enclosed and locked pen or structure; posting a warning sign on their property; and muzzling the dog if outside of the enclosure, according to the state’s website.

“Many owners feel euthanizing the dogs is the best decision,” Powers said.

Following Tuesday’s attack, animal control company Hoffman Kennels, located in Delmont, removed the dogs from the apartment.

Hoffman Kennels and police did not respond Wednesday to repeated requests for comment.

Data for the number of dog attacks statewide was not readily available, because these types of incidents all have differing investigating agencies, Powers said.

However, in Allegheny County there currently are 145 registered dangerous dogs. In Westmoreland County, there are 53 registered dangerous dogs, and statewide there are more than 800 dogs on the registry list, according to the state’s September 2025 report.

Last year, Baynes faced criminal charges stemming from a dog attack on Halloween, which resulted in two injured Tarentum residents.

In June, the charges were dismissed after an investigation revealed another man, Shawn Flynn, let the dogs out.

Flynn’s hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.

In that incident, two adult pit bulls and one puppy were involved in the attacks. Officers shot and killed one of the adult dogs, and the other was later euthanized.

It’s unclear whether one of the three dogs in the most recent attack was also involved in the Halloween 2o24 incident.