Texas: Dog Kills Dog, Now What?

TEXAS -- Latarri Tisdale has had his pit bull, Baby, since she was a puppy. But, it's what Baby did to a pit bull puppy that led residents to contact the police.

"We got a call that an adult pit bull was chained in a yard and it was actively mauling a pit bull puppy," Sergeant for the Burkburnett Police Department Zach Leonard said.

The puppy wandered into Tisdale's yard, and Baby's territory. Children playing in the street witnessed the horrifying attack.

"Any dog is going to protect their food, if they try to get in their bowl, and that's what happened." Tisdale explained

Tisdale says that Burkburnett police officers threatened to kill his pit bull, an accusation that Sgt. Leonard denies.

"We informed him that if his dogs got off the chains or attacked an officer, because they were being aggressive, that we would use force to protect ourselves and others in the neighborhood."

 

Tisdale also alleges that Burkburnett animal control officers threatened to take Baby away from him. However, because it was a dog on dog crime, removing the dead dog was really all Animal Control could do.

"If it was a bite on a human, then we would be more involved," said Burkburnett Animal Control Supervisor Scott McRee. "But, we do not quarantine or we do not seize animals because they kill another animal."

And since Baby is legally Tisdale's property, Animal Control left her alone.  

The only exception to the rule is if the animal is deemed dangerous. Proof of the animal's viciousness would have to be submitted by Animal Control to the Justice of the Peace.

After a hearing, if the dog was determined to be dangerous, a judge would decide the best course of action. That could be anything from quarantine to seizure and destruction of the animal.

Burkburnett officials did not say whether they would move forward in deeming "Baby" dangerous.

(NewsChannel6 - April 27, 2015)