MARIETTA - Two pit bulls will be euthanized after police said they bit a woman in the face and attacked her Jack Russell terrier Tuesday morning.

The 67-year-old woman, whose name was not released as of late Tuesday, refused transport to the hospital for injuries to her hands and face. The extent of the Jack Russell's injuries were not known; however, police said the woman was planning to take the dog to a veterinarian.

Cobb County Animal Control spokesman Nathan McCreary said the woman was walking near Walton Village apartments, off Roberta Drive near Austell Road, at 6:30 a.m. when the pit bulls chased her into the complex and attacked her small terrier. The woman was bitten when she tried to intervene, McCreary said. Marietta Police Officer Michael Gardner said the attack was in the breezeway of one of the buildings and some neighbors came out and tried to get the dogs off the woman.

The pit bulls ran off after the attack and were captured by Animal Control officers four hours later in a wooded area near Saine Drive and Sandtown Road, McCreary said.

"I want to stress the outstanding work done by our animal control officers, Seanna Abbott, Billie Jo Kohler and Jeff Davis," McCreary said. "These officers have a very difficult job and showed an extreme amount of dedication to the community as they tracked these vicious animals until they were caught."

The owner of the pit bulls, Donald Wilkes, signed over his dogs to Animal Control and was charged with two counts each of failure to control an animal, vicious animal and failure to maintain rabies vaccination records. Wilkes lives near the area, but not in the same apartment complex, McCreary said.

The pit bulls will be euthanized and tested for rabies.