Santa Fe police Capt. Andrea Dobyns said Wednesday that the dogs had previously been reported as vicious animals.
Nyla (brindle) and Roxxy (tan/white), 1-year-old females, were running loose Monday evening in the West Alameda Street neighborhood, where they fatally mauled Lillie, an 8-year-old long-haired Chihuahua, and sent her owner, Anne Stills, to the hospital.
Dobyns said the dogs were reported four times in September: once for running at large, twice for barking and once for vicious behavior. Dobyns said animal control officers investigated each case.
The owner was cited once for allowing the animals to run at large, but the other cases were dismissed.
Dobyns said there was no evidence of a previous attack by the two dogs. She added that animal control officers were interviewing a man who had tried to break up Monday’s attack and was also bit.
No charges have been filed against the dogs’ owner, and the owner’s name has not been released.
Dobyns said, however, that the person could face charges for allowing the animals to run free and for harboring vicious animals. She said the case would be filed at Santa Fe Municipal Court this week and a judge, along with animal control officers, will officially determine if the dogs should be put down.
The dogs will be held at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society for at least 10 days, pending a hearing, and could be kept there longer if the owner decides to take the case to trial.
Stills said she was walking Lillie westbound on West Alameda Street when the two dogs jumped a chain-link fence and attacked her and her dog.
“I tried to get between them,” Stills said this week. “I just wanted to save [Lillie]. When I finally got her from them, I knew she was already gone.”
Dobyns said there was no evidence that the dogs were restrained on the property.
The attack happened in front of 604 W. Alameda St., which Stills says is the address of the dog owner’s niece, who helped get control of the dogs after the attack. Attempts to contact the niece have not been successful this week. “Beware of Dog” signs are posted at the residence.
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| RIP sweet Lillie |
Stills was transported to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and treated for puncture wounds to her elbow, hand and thigh. She said she wants both pit bulls to be put down, the owner charged and the breed “outlawed.”
Despite Stills’ belief that the dogs were staying with a relative of the owner, Dobyns said, “All responsibility lies with their owner. He needs to accept responsibility for what the dogs did.”
(The New Mexican - November 14, 2012)
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