TEXAS -- An attack on two Brownsville women by their own dogs has residents wondering how the women managed to have a pack of more than 25 inside their small home without anything being done about the situation.
The mauling of Josefina Ledezma, 63, and Estela Regalado, 51, left the women on the ground and bloodied with neighbors and police coming to their aid shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday at their home in the 1300 block of East 17th Street.
Police said Ledezma was feeding the mixed-breed dogs outside the home when she fell and the dogs began to attack her. Regalado tried to aid Ledezma and the dogs turned on her, too.
“When the first officer arrived, the dogs were around the lady barking up a storm but they were not attacking them at the time,” Brownsville police Lt. Juan Hernandez said. “The neighbors were kicking them and shooing them away.
“There was blood everywhere. … Their clothing (the women’s) was completely covered in blood.”
Two animal control officers happened to be near the neighborhood, and they corralled the dogs and took them away, police said.
The women suffered multiple bites all over their bodies. They were taken by ambulance to Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville. Regalado was listed in good condition late Thursday afternoon. Ledezma was still being evaluated. Another woman at the home, who was not attacked, also was taken to the hospital for observation.
Police said 26 dogs were removed from the home and sent to the Brownsville animal shelter. Two other dogs at the home escaped. None of the dogs had collars or dog vaccination tags on them.
“I was very nervous because it is something that I had never seen,” said Jorge Mujica, a longtime resident of the neighborhood on East 17th Street, who witnessed the attack. “One of the women was on the street and the dogs were on top of her and biting her. I had never seen anything so horrible.”
Resident Mario Moreno said he had made reports to officials about the number of animals that were living at the home but apparently nothing had been done. “They just ignored me,” he said.
Moreno said the dogs would bark whenever someone walked by the home. He said he didn’t understand how the women managed to live with all the dogs. The dogs killed another dog in the neighborhood not too long ago, he said.
“All of the dogs were on top of the lady. Thank goodness nothing happened to anyone else,” Moreno said. “I wanted to help her, but I was afraid that the dogs would bite me, too.”
Public Health Director Art Rodriguez said the dogs would be quarantined for 10 days at the shelter so animal control officers could observe their behavior. Officials are trying to determine if the dogs have had any vaccinations.
If the dogs had attacked another person and not their owners, the case would go before the city court, which would make a decision. Pets biting their owners is a little different, officials said.
“In this case we are going to wait to interview the owner and see whether the owner is going to turn them over” or if something else is going to happen, Rodriguez said.
After 10 days of observation, if the dogs are deemed vicious they could be put down, Rodriguez said.
Officials said the women could be cited for having too many dogs. The city ordinance states an owner may only have three dogs. The women could face additional citations if the animals have not been vaccinated for rabies, officials said.
(The Brownsville Herald - Jan 24, 2013)
