The 9-year-old San Antonio girl was walking with a friend to her grandmother’s house Nov. 9 in the 1400 block of Valencia on the West Side when a 3-year-old pit bull mix crossed the street, pushed her into a metal fence and bit her on her hand and leg.
A neighbor saw the dog attack and intervened before it got worse, said the girl’s mother, Samantha Berlanga.
Zertuche received stitches, pins and a cast on her hand after she suffered lacerations, deep puncture wounds and a ring finger broken in three places. Even after the cast came off, she still has numbness and lack of movement in some of the fingers on her left hand.
Sometime after the attack, Zertuche was roller skating near her home when she saw a dog nearby and quickly fled away in fear. She fell and broke her right ankle in the process.
Desiree’s case is one of several severe animal bite cases Animal Care Services has worked in the past few months. ACS is the local rabies authority and handles animal control services within the city limits.
ACS spokeswoman Lisa Norwood said this is a cause for concern, since many of these severe cases involve young children.
“These are beyond simple nips, these are attacks,” Norwood said.
She described a Dec. 6 case when an unsterilized dog bit an 11-year-old girl, causing gaping wounds on the victim’s arms and chest. The girl may lose an arm and will be in the hospital through Christmas.
One such severe dog attack resulted in death earlier this year, when two pit bulls mauled 83-year-old Petra Aguirre on March 31 while she fed her cats, according to a previous Express-News report.
Aguirre’s neighbor and owner of the dogs, Perla Rojas, 34, was indicted Nov. 24 on a charge of a dangerous dog attack leading to death, a second-degree felony charge.
ACS declared eight dogs dangerous in San Antonio from Oct. 1 to Dec. 10, twice the number of dogs declared dangerous last year during the same time period.
Overall bite cases, including severe and not severe, during that time frame is down by more than 100 this year over last year, but ACS expects an uptick in cases as the December holidays approach.
ACS could not immediately provide statistics for the entire year.
ACS cruelty investigator Audra Houghton investigates severe bite cases and said many dog owners think if their dog is friendly with them, then it will be with other people. She said that isn’t always the case.
“I think a lot of people underestimate their dogs’ abilities,” she said.
Most dog bites involved dogs with owners, which she said is contrary to the belief that stray dogs are the greatest culprits.
Dogs are quarantined following an attack and are generally returned to their owners. But if an attack causes, serious bodily injury or death, those dogs may be euthanized, Houghton said.
Owners whose dogs are involved in attacks can be arrested on felony charges depending on the severity of the injuries. If an animal attack causes serious bodily injury, the owner could be charged with a third-degree felony and face up to 10 years in prison. An animal attack resulting in death could result in a second-degree felony charge, and a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on conviction.
(mySanAntonio.com - Dec 16, 2014)
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