Police and emergency medical authorities responded to a home in the 2300 block of South 12th Street at about 1:10 p.m., after animal control officer Jacqueline Lynch said she had been bitten by at least two pit bull dogs, according to dispatcher reports.
Residents in the neighborhood said Lynch was trying to take a loose pit bull dog into custody at the residence when another pit bull dog jumped a backyard fence at the residence, and both dogs attacked her. Lynch ran to a residence across the street - the home of 72-year-old Helen Williams - to seek refuge.
"They were biting her and everything," Williams said. "She came into my door and I pushed her in. That's the only thing that saved her was me letting her in the house."
Another neighbor, 61-year-old Bobby Kelly, also shielded the dogs from Lynch at Williams' door step.
Longview Development Services Director Kevin Cummings said Lynch sustained bite marks to her right hand, but, "She is going to be OK." Officials will determine which dog bit Lynch, then that dog or dogs will be quarantined for 10 days. The canines were transported to the Humane Society of Northeast Texas.
Dog attacks are rare for Longview animal control officers, Cummings added.
"(Lynch) said it was different because she knew she had one dog that was out and then the other dog began to show aggression to her," he said. "It was just the location and the particular attitude of this dog."
Williams said the owner of the dogs is out of town. She added that she had seen the dogs show aggression when the owner was training them to hunt raccoons but that they had not attacked humans, as far as she knew.
Lynch is a senior animal control officer who has been with the city since March 2004.
(News Journal - Jan 6, 2012)
