Francesco Bove is lucky to be alive after several good Samaritans saved him from a gruesome attack by two pit bulls.

Bove is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, he was initially so badly mutilated that a priest read him his last rites.

The horror began when the dogs' owner, Cynthia Oliver, 55, exchanged words with the victim, said NYPD spokeswoman Detective Annette Markowski. Oliver was holding the pit bulls and dropped the leash, she said. The dogs attacked.

But Anthony Bove said his father told him there was no altercation, no words exchanged.

Oliver was taken in for a psychological evaluation before she was arrested on eight counts of assault and two counts of reckless endangerment.

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"My father feels terrible that the dogs are probably going to be put to sleep," Anthony Bove said.

"The pit bull is not an inherently evil dog. But ... these pit bulls might have been trained as guard or attack dogs. He remembers the dogs licking his blood off the ground. They wanted to finish the job. That's very disturbing to him."

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