It was only a month ago that Cutter, her 13-year-old Australian Shepherd, had been viciously attacked and killed in her own backyard by two pit bulls that tore through the picket fence.
Dianna and her daughter Tammy say they called Lubbock's Animal Control multiple times because the aggressive dogs kept trying to get in, and then on January 14th the dogs succeeded and attacked Cutter. He later died on January 23rd.
"At none of those times did they offer any help. They did not offer traps to be set. All that was done after Cutter died," Tammy said.
When we first aired Cutter's story, the City of Lubbock released a statement saying they were only contacted by Dianna on May 3rd and January 14th. In fact, the statement notes, "Telephone logs showed no dangerous animal calls from her phone number between those dates including the month of December."
KCBD then requested the phone records from the City of Lubbock and what we found was shocking. The city's statement completely contradicted what their official records reveal.
KCBD then requested the phone records from the City of Lubbock and what we found was shocking. The city's statement completely contradicted what their official records reveal.
The records show Animal Control was called at least twice before Cutter's attack, and that did not include the calls she had made to 911 that were transferred to animal control. One document shows Dianna called on December 15th stating "Two pit bulls were trying to get into my backyard and get to my dog. They won't go away or back down, and they have blood on them."
"We witnessed it. We lived it. We saw it. We knew we were telling the truth, but basically they called us liars," Tammy said. "We try to teach our kids to stand up and admit when they're wrong, take the blame and do what's right. We can't even get our city officials to do that."
We took these documents to the Animal Control director George Torres for answers as to why the records did not match their official statement. "That was just an error on my part," Torres admitted. "When I was getting all the information I failed to provide you with those calls."
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| Animal Control director George Torres |
We also asked why the traps were not put out until after Cutter was killed. "At the time the officers didn't feel it was necessary, and the traps were not set out," Torres said.
While Torres admitted to the false statements, Dianna and Tammy will not be getting the apology they had hoped for.
"We did not feel we were responsible for the death of the dog," Torres said. "We did receive the calls and we did respond, but they could not locate the dogs. With the officers we have budgeted to us they do a good job."
However Tammy says that "good job" simply is not enough. "If those dogs could take down a 60 pound Australian Shepherd what could they do to a child? That's my concern," Tammy said.
Torres says they deal with aggressive dogs on a daily basis, and last year they had more than 900 dangerous dog calls. He says it is not the fault of Animal Control that Cutter died, but that irresponsible pet owners are to blame for not keeping their dogs on their property.
(KCBD - Feb 27, 2013)
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