Family left devastated after their pet emu was chased down the street and mauled by two dogs

Published: 21:21, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 21:25, 22 July 2026 A family's beloved six-foot emu was chased through the streets and mauled by two dogs before police were forced to put her down. The three-year-old bird, named Barb, was attacked after the dogs allegedly broke into her enclosure at her family’s home in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday afternoon. Horrifying cellphone footage posted online showed the 160-pound emu sprinting along a residential street as two dogs, her owners described as their neighbors’ pit bulls, raced behind her. Barb’s owners, David Callos and Carly Stroman, said the dogs attacked her inside the fenced yard before she escaped and apparently drew them away from the family’s five other emus. The dogs then pursued Barb from Park Street to Ravine Street, where she was found with catastrophic injuries. ‘It was like a hunting,’ Callos told CBS Pittsburgh. The family was not home during the attack and learned what had happened when friends and neighbors called them. By the time Stroman arrived, the emu had to be put down by police. Three-year-old Barb was chased through McKeesport before police were forced to put her down because of her catastrophic injuries Cellphone footage showed the six-foot, 160-pound emu sprinting along a residential street as two dogs pursued her Carly Stroman (pictured) said Barb had suffered such devastating injuries that McKeesport police were forced to put her down ‘She was lying in the middle of the road at the bottom of our property line after the dogs had torn her throat out, and the damage they did is just unbelievable.’ The cellphone footage circulating online captured only the frantic pursuit, not the attack itself. Callos said a mechanic at a garage on Ravine Street tried to rescue Barb by kicking at the dogs and driving them away from the injured bird. Stroman believed Barb had run toward the nearest person she could find while leading the dogs away from the rest of the family’s birds. ‘She ran and saved the rest of the mob, and sacrificed herself,’ she told Tube City Online. The family described Barb as a gentle bird that had never previously escaped from her enclosure. ‘Some people on social media are saying the emu was at-large, but that’s not true,’ Callos said. Barb lived alongside five other emus named Cooper, Poppy, Floyd, Branch and Viva. The birds were named after characters from DreamWorks’ Trolls movies. David Callos and Carly Stroman said they believed Barb sacrificed herself to save the five surviving members of the family’s emu  Callos said the family had experienced previous problems involving the dogs, which allegedly killed one of their chickens Cooper, the family’s 6ft2 male emu, became a local internet sensation after escaping in August 2024. Cooper was filmed 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 the same parents, according to the family. The Callos family, which has four children, began raising emus after purchasing its first two birds from Moonlight Valley Farm near Gettysburg. Emus are flightless birds native to Australia and can run at speeds of more than 30mph. Callos claimed his family had experienced previous trouble involving the neighbors and the same dogs. ‘We’ve had problems with these neighbors and these dogs before, and they deny having the dogs,’ he told CBS Pittsburgh. He separately told Tube City Online that the dogs were frequently loose and had previously killed one of the family’s chickens. The couple said Barb ran toward a nearby mechanic, who tried to drive away the dogs and save her  The dogs’ alleged owners had not contacted the family following Barb’s death, Callos and Stroman said. Animal control was notified and McKeesport police took a report before visiting the neighboring property to inspect the dogs, according to the family. Callos said he had also contacted the dog warden to discuss possible charges and legal action against the dogs’ alleged owners. ‘We spoke with the dog warden about pressing charges, at least doing some kind of a civil suit for the killing of the animal,’ he said. ‘It’s considered livestock, and they’re expensive.’ 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 remained unclear whether either dog had been seized, cited or subjected to dangerous-dog proceedings. ‘The kids are taking it hard, but they’ll be okay,’ Callos told Tube City Online. The family has been developing a five-and-a-half-acre property outside McKeesport and plans to move the surviving emus there to keep them safe. The family launched a GoFundMe to relocate its surviving emus to a five-and-a-half-acre property outside McKeesport They have also launched a GoFundMe to help move its five surviving emus away from the neighboring property and cover its expected legal costs. ‘Due to the awful circumstances that occurred yesterday, we are in dire need to move these birds ASAP,’ the fundraiser said. The family claimed the dogs had become ‘increasingly more aggressive’ toward the birds and remained next door following the fatal attack. ‘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 said. Money raised would be used to relocate the emus and pursue what the family described as ‘justice for Barb.’ ‘She did not deserve to be mauled to death, but she sacrificed herself and saved the rest of the mob,’ the fundraiser added.