In a violent dog attack in a residential area of San Antonio on Friday afternoon, an elderly man was killed and three other people were hurt. Responding firefighters had to fight off the dogs to get to the victims.
At about 1:45 p.m. local time, when firefighters were called to a report of a dog bite, they found an elderly man “being dragged by a dog,” San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters. Hood said –
“They could see him completely bloodied before they got off the fire truck.”
Hood called the scene “horrific” and said the firefighters had to fight off multiple pit bulls with “pickaxes and pipe poles” to get to the two victims, an 80-year-old man and a woman. Hood said that the attack took place on a sidewalk.
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Hood said that the man was given blood at the scene and rushed to the hospital, where he died. The woman was in very bad shape and was taken to the hospital. Their names were not revealed.
A fire captain was also bitten on the leg, and a bite on the hand of a fourth person sent them to the hospital, Hood said. Hood said that what the firefighters did was “very heroic.” Hood said –
“This is not something normal for us. We usually don’t show up and have to defend patients from animals or ourselves.”
Shannon Sims, who is the director of San Antonio Animal Care Services, said that three Staffordshire Terriers were taken by animal control. Sims said that at least two of these dogs were part of the attack.
The same people own all three, and they were questioned by police at the scene. He also said that the investigation is in its “early stages,” and that the owners could face “potential charges.”
Sims said that the same dogs had been involved in a “bite” incident in 2021, which led to them being taken away for a short time and then given back to their owners.
