TEXAS -- The two pit bull dogs involved in an overnight rampage last weekend have been euthanized at their owner’s request, while another pair of aggressive dogs were reported Thursday night, authorities said.
A man had to fight off the pit bulls Friday with a chair after being attacked on the porch of his parents’ house. Two dogs and a cat in the same area around Hancock Lane were believed killed Friday night/Saturday morning by the pair, who had broken out of their chainlink-fenced yard on Turek Street.
Both dogs were captured by animal control officers Saturday morning and taken to the El Campo Animal Shelter until they were euthanized, El Campo Police Chief Terry Stanphill said.
Charles Herring, who lives at 808 College, said he went outside Thursday morning to see what was making noises that had disturbed his wife.
“As soon as I stepped out the front door, there were two pits in my driveway,” Herring said. “They started barking and running toward me as soon as I walked out the front door. I deferred to them, I let them have the driveway.”
Stanphill said police arrived about 5:30 a.m. and found the two dogs growling, snapping their teeth and acting aggressively.
Animal control officers were called. They tranquilized one dog, but the other escaped.
“I’ve been told we found the owner, and the other dog has been penned up,” Stanphill said. “I’m sure they’ll be cited for animals at large.”
Herring said he was “just shocked someone would have animals like that and let them roam around at night.”
“Dogs like that, they’re frightening,” he said. “Be on the watch for stuff like that, because think about all the kids walking to school now, they could be attacked by those dogs.”
Stanphill said Herring did the right thing by calling police when the dogs showed aggression.
“People can call any time there’s a dog running loose,” Stanphill said, noting that’s illegal within the city limits.
“If its an aggressive dog, our officers will take whatever action is needed. If it’s just running loose, we want to know so animal control can take care of it. But if a dog’s growling, get away from the animal and call the police department and we’ll come evaluate it and see what we need to do."
El Campo Animal Control this year has received an average of 33 calls per month reporting animals at large, but rarely has to handle attacks like last weekend's.
“It’s not common,” city animal control Officer Steven Peoples said. “This is the first time I recall something like this, where the dogs went nuts and started running.”
He said there was a problem on Alice Avenue with a pack of dogs that in September killed a total of 16 goats in two attacks a week apart, but after those dogs were shot at by a police officer, they disappeared.
“Haven’t seen them since,” Peoples said.
Animal bites are automatically reported to law enforcement if a person seeks medical attention, and police then take the animal into custody and place it in rabies quarantine if its shots aren’t current or if its vicious.
That is a rare occurrence, Peoples said. From January 2001 to the end of September 2011, there was no more than one dog a month in quarantine for biting.
“We had four in quarantine this week,” animal control officer David Baros said. “Then we can go weeks, months, without any.”
(El Campo Leader News - Oct 22, 2011)
