As many as five unleashed pit bull terriers reportedly mauled an Arlington man when he stepped outside to check the weather last Sunday, raising questions about the responsibility of pet owners and the danger of animal attacks in urban environments.
The wounded man, Terrance Marshall, was taken to a hospital emergency room with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Marshall needed 79 stitches following the brutal attack by his neighbor’s dogs.
“I walked outside and the dogs were barking, … normally they bark and just go about their business. But the owner of the dog ran toward me to grab the dog that was walking toward me. Apparently, they took that as a threat and that’s when all of them rushed me,” Marshall told WFAA.
Marshall sustained injuries to his hands, arms, legs, ears, and head.
Arlington Animal Services (AAS) was called to the scene, but upon their arrival, the neighbor and dogs had already allegedly absconded.
It was not until Tuesday that AAS, with the help of Arlington police, managed to track down Marshall’s neighbor and seize the dogs.
“Our number one goal right now is to have these dogs in custody for rabies observation to keep our citizens and community safe until further determination can be set,” stated Henry Peña, AAS field operations manager, in an email to The Dallas Express.
No criminal charges have been filed against the neighbor so far, but a spokesperson for the Arlington Police Department told The Dallas Express it is not out of the question yet.
“I can tell you that we do work with Animal Control on these types of cases — and if at the conclusion of their investigation we believe criminal charges are warranted, we will file those,” he stated.
Peña agreed, telling The Dallas Express, “Citations can be issued, … however, Arlington Police Department may be able to pursue higher charges based on the penal code.”
Under certain conditions, dog attacks that result in serious bodily injury can result in the owner facing a third-degree felony charge with a penalty of two to 10 years in prison, per state law.
The Dallas Express reached out to Dallas Animal Services (DAS) to get the lay of the land as far as reported animal attacks go.
“In Dallas, we saw 304 bites by contained animals, 216 by loose animals this January. For the same month last year, we saw 328 bites by contained animals, 230 by loose animals,” a DAS spokesperson wrote in an email to The Dallas Express.
She further explained that DAS operations are split between investigations into aggressive dogs and reports of loose dogs.
“We are working to reduce instances of bites by loose animals by utilizing reports that come in through 311 to target patrols in areas where we are seeing elevated calls about loose dogs. The more loose dogs in a concentrated area, the greater the risk is for bites, so we use data to identify where our Animal Services Officers are most needed,” the spokesperson told The Dallas Express.
The latest mauling in Arlington follows a year of coyote sightings and attacks in and around Dallas and two dog maulings of children in the city limits, one of which resulted in a death, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
It is currently unclear whether City leaders are willing to provide DAS with the necessary resources the agency needs to make Dallas safer, nor is it clear whether they are willing to crack down on irresponsible pet owners who allow their unrestrained animals to harm innocent residents.
As for Marshall, he may be one of the lucky ones in North Texas, despite a long road to recovery.
“This is just a small hurdle to overcome,” he told Fox 4. “I’m not going to let anything like this stop me because I’m a fighter.”