El Paso woman outraged after her dog is killed by another and its owner receives ‘just a ticket’
EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso woman’s dog was killed by another dog at a park on the eastside.
Priscilla Pinon’s niece was walking both of her dogs at Tierra Buena Park when she noticed another dog owner struggling to control her dogs.
“She saw the lady with two dogs, and they seemed like they were pretty aggressive," Pinon said.
As reached to grab the smallest of the dogs, one of the other owner’s dogs got loose and started attacking the dog she left on the ground - causing the chihuahua in her arms to jump out of her arms scared.
ABC-7 spoke to a witness who saw it happen.
"The chihuahua jumped out of her arms, and started running towards the street,” the witness explained, “and then we saw her dog go and attack it and grab it by its chest - and shake it around like it was a toy."
The witness, who didn't want to be identified, called city Animal Services - which she said took statements from both parties and left without taking the attacking dog into custody.
"I thought Animal Control would have taken away the dog from her at that time, but they did nothing," she said.
The lack of action left Pinon and her family torn apart, because she feels the current rules don’t fully protect dogs and their owners.
"What are lawmakers doing to protect our animals?” she asked. “Does that mean that this incident could keep on coming about all the time, and it's ok? Just a ticket is not ok!"
Animal Services officials said they handle such situations on a case to case basis, but said a dog will only get euthanized if its owner or a judge requests it.
While an animal to animal attack is handled one way, an animal attack on a human is a different situation as the Texas Health and Safety code calls for a quarantine process to be enforced.
