Vickie Lowe, 60, and Abby, her Corgi- Beagle mixed breed, were attacked shortly before 8 a.m. in front of her condominium in the 900 block of Marine Street on Galveston’s East End.
Minutes later, the pack attacked Storm, a 40-pound miniature hHsky and her owner, Sofia Morffe, 28, behind the condominiums. Lowe and Morffe suffered bites and scratches trying to protect their dogs. Storm was the most seriously injured and needed surgery to repair the wounds.
Galveston animal control officers cornered the pit bulls and easily captured them. The dogs weren’t aggressive to the officers and even rolled onto their backs, allowing officers to put leashes on them and put them in a truck, police Lt. Joel Caldwell said. The search for the dogs’ owners continued Wednesday, he said.
Lowe and Morffe relied on strangers, who answered their screams for help as they tried to save their pets.
Lowe was headed out on her usual morning walk when she noticed the pit bulls.
“They wanted my dog,” Lowe said. “My dog’s on a leash, and all four of them got on my dog. I started screaming, went down to pick her up and they pulled me down and pretty much attacked her. I started swinging my arms, hitting them with my fists and screaming as loud as I possibly could over and over again.”
Gardener To The Rescue
A gardener Lowe sees frequently on her walks was working at another condominium complex and rushed to help.
“He came over with a stick he uses to pick up trash and started fighting the dogs off with me,” Lowe said. “I could hear him speaking in Spanish to the dogs. It was kind of surreal, to be honest. He got the dogs off, and they were within about 6 feet when they tried to come back again.”
Pat York, Lowe’s friend, came around the corner with her dog after hearing the screams for help.
After the gardener dispatched the dogs, York took Lowe and Abby to The Animal Clinic for a stitch to the leg and other treatment. She then took Lowe to the emergency room at the University of Texas Medical Branch for bites, scratches and other injuries to her wrist, hand, arms and leg.
Morffe, a first-year occupational therapy student at the medical branch, was out for a walk about 8:10 a.m. when she encountered the pack just beyond the condominium gate.
“At first, they were wagging their tails, and that looked strange,” Morffe said. “Then they circled Storm. One went for her throat and another grabbed her from behind. She tried to fight them off for a little while, but they got her down. I started screaming for help.”
Neighbors Intervene
Morffe was bitten on the wrist as she lifted Storm, with one pit bull clinging to her dog’s tail.
“At that point, neighbors were coming, people who lived around the area,” Morffe said.
She hopped into the bed of a neighbor’s pickup to escape the attack. Morffe went to the medical branch’s student clinic for treatment, but her dog remained at the emergency veterinarian Wednesday for surgery and overnight observation.
Officers interviewed commercial fisherman at a nearby wharf, attempting to learn whether the dogs had escaped from the area, but most of the folks there spoke only Vietnamese, Caldwell said.
There have been three dog attacks reported recently. Police were called May 18 to the 3900 block of Avenue N1/2 to intercept a pair of Rottweilers. Officers shot and killed one of the dogs. Another incident with a pit bull left a woman injured a couple of weeks ago at 26th Street and Avenue M, Caldwell said.
Stopping Attacks
The city has responded with measures to try to curb dog attacks, enacting an anti-tethering ordinance and increasing fines for unregistered dogs, Caldwell said.
“But when it comes down to it, we have irresponsible owners who don’t secure their dogs, don’t neuter or spay their dogs and don’t vaccinate their dogs,” Caldwell said. “It only takes one or two to make a bad scene.”
There are ways to protect yourself on a dog walk, including carrying canine Mace and a large stick, said Caldwell, who heads the police department’s Animal Services Unit.
Caldwell is also an advocate for concealed handgun licenses, he said, noting that was not the official stance of the police department.
“I’m a strong proponent of concealed carry firearms,” Caldwell said. “In a situation if you’re attacked by four strong pit bulls, you’re more than justified to use whatever force against them.”
The pit bulls, which had no collars, tags or microchips, remained under quarantine Wednesday. One of the dogs was found with a chain leash around its neck.
(The Galveston County Daily News - June 21, 2012)
