LUBBOCK, Texas — A Lubbock woman is demanding justice after her pit bull was attacked in her backyard by four other dogs who broke the fence. ‘Josie’, the pit bull, is recovering after receiving multiple stitches from the attacks.
“It’s just awful, my own dog can’t feel safe in her own backyard,” said Hali Garcia, Josie’s Owner. “I’m afraid to even have my children out here, in case they get through again.”
After Garcia and her husband broke up the fight, the couple called Animal Services, but didn’t like the response.
“They basically said they couldn’t do anything about it because it was a dog on dog attack, that had now been resolved,” Garcia said.
Under Texas law, Animal Services cannot quarantine an animal unless a dog has hurt a human. In all dog fights, the only way officers could respond is if the animals were missing after the attack.
“Unfortunately it is very common, but in these cases our hands are tied,” said Steven Greene, Animal Services Director.”As horrible as it is, the best thing you can do is to call us and wait the fight out, do not get yourself involved because you could end up seriously hurt.”
However, Garcia said such an action was never an option for her, believing those dogs were going to kill ‘Josie’ or harm Garcia’s children.
“My children would have responded if I did not, and I know they would have been hurt,” Garcia said. “We need to change the way we look at this, because these dogs are family members, not a piece of property and need to be treated as such.”
