According to his attorney, former NFL linebacker Steve Foley, who was charged with a felony after his pit bulls bit a woman and killed her puppy, kept the pits as "show dogs and pets, not fighting dogs."

"It was a tragic accident and Mr. Foley is very sorry that his neighbor and friend was injured, but these dogs were his pets. They had no previous history of aggression," his attorney Paul Nugent is quoted as saying in the Houston Chronicle.

A Fort Bend County grand jury indicted Foley, accusing him of failing to secure the dogs. The two adult pit bulls attacked neighbor Twana Schulz on March 26, causing serious bodily injury when they bit her on the arms and face, according to court documents.

Schulz, 36, was walking to the corner to pick her daughter up from the school bus when she and the puppy were attacked. Foley's dogs were seized by animal control officers and put to death.

Foley surrendered at the Fort Bend County Jail on Wednesday and was released on a $10,000 bond. The 32-year-old Foley played with the Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and San Diego Chargers. His career ended after he was shot by an off-duty police officer in San Diego in 2006. The Chargers released him in March 2007 with two years left on his contract.