An unnamed Houston, Texas man, 69, died on February 1 after he was viciously attacked by a neighbor’s dogs. He was trying to protect his small pet poodle when he discovered it was being attacked by the dogs.
The neighbor’s dogs had managed to get into the man’s backyard through a hole in his fence.
While inside his house, the poodle owner heard his pet crying in the backyard as it was being attacked by the bigger dogs. He went out to check and saw his neighbor’s dogs had found a hole in the fence and crawled into his backyard, and the two dogs were attacking the small dog.
The man tried to save his dog by pouncing on one of the killer dogs, but it turned and attacked him. The two dogs pushed him to the ground and bit and mauled him. The attack lasted several minutes.
According to Houston Police Lt. Larry Crowson, a witness called the police, and the man was still being attacked when responding officers arrived. Officers approached the dogs to try and save the man, but one of the dogs charged at them, prompting one officer to open fire on the dogs.
The Houston Animal Shelter took custody of the two Staffordshire terrier mixes. The poodle had to be euthanized due to severe injuries.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether to charge the animal owners.
Dog attacks in the US are fairly common. A seven-year-old boy was mauled to death a week ago by a pack of dogs in Idaho. The child was attacked while he was playing outside his trailer home in Fort Hall. His mother went out to check on him and discovered four dogs attacking him and tried to save him. She sustained serious injuries when the dogs mauled her, and the boy was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Authorities put the dogs down and cited the owners for 15 animal ordinance violations.