Former mayor of Arizona town hurt, husband killed in dog attack

ARIZONA -- The former mayor of an Arizona town was seriously hurt and her husband killed after the couple tried to break up a dog fight in their home over the weekend, officials said.

Diane Vick, 65, and her husband, Thomas, were mauled by their pet boxer while trying to stop it from attacking their pet cocker spaniel inside their Bullhead City home on Saturday afternoon, according to the Mohave Valley Daily News.

Thomas Vick (r.) with his daughter, Erica. The 64-year-old father died
after he was mauled by his pet boxer while trying to break
 up a dog fight inside his home.

"They both attempted to break up the fight, but the boxer suddenly turned and began attacking them,” Lt. Nick Sessions with the Bullhead City Police Department told the newspaper.

Emergency workers rushed the couple to Western Arizona Regional Medical Center, but the 64-year-old husband — a social studies teacher at Mohave High School — could not be saved.

Diane Vick — who served two terms as mayor for the city between 1999 and 2007 — was later airlifted about 100 miles away to a hospital in Las Vegas, where she is recovering.

The two dogs were taken into custody by Bullhead City Animal Control.

The city’s current mayor, Jack Hakim, told The Republic that Vick “was pretty well beat up,” but didn’t believe her injuries were life-threatening.

“We’ve had dog bites before, but never something like this,” Hakim said.

“It’s very sad for us in Bullhead City. She was a former mayor and he was a prominent high school teacher at Mohave High School. ... We’re just grateful that at least one of them was able to survive.”

(NY Daily News - Dec 30, 2013)