Woman wanted after her pit bulls attacked three people, according to Chatham County police

A Hope Mills woman is facing charges after Chatham County officials said she apparently left her four pit bulls in a neighborhood under construction where they later attacked three people.

Brittney Patrice Fountain, 31, is wanted on four counts of animal cruelty, four counts of animal abandonment, violating a dog’s rabies vaccination and numerous Chatham County ordinance violations.

Anyone with information about Fountain’s whereabouts can call the Sheriff’s Office at 912-652-7634.

A resident of the Firefly Overlook housing development near Jordan Lake said a mother and her son screamed for help as the dogs attacked them. Another neighbor rushed to help fight the dogs off.

Officers said when they arrived, the woman had bites on her legs and left hand, while her son had multiple bites on his legs. Both are expected to be OK.

Chatham County said it is an ongoing investigation and could not say whether the dogs were abandoned in the area or were simply running loose.

According to the sheriff’s office, officers used “all available non-lethal means” and captured three of the four dogs. After officers made multiple attempts to capture the fourth dog, an officer shot the dog.

Authorities took the surviving dogs to the Chatham Sheriff’s Animal Resource Center. Deputies said Tuesday the dogs were held for 10 days for rabies observation.