Woman Attacked By Pack Of Up To 15 Stray Dogs In Us

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Really frightening story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2375811/Pack-dogs-savages-stepmother-Maria-Arcos-Houston-Texas.html

Housekeeper, 52, fights for life after pack of 15 stray dogs 'eat her to the bone' as she waited for a bus in broad daylight

'They were eating her - the dogs were eating her to the bone'

Stepson describes horrific attack that left stepmother in critical condition

Maria Arcos, from Houston, was left with horrific wounds covering her body

The ordeal was so traumatic the 52-year-old suffered a heart attack

By Stuart Woledge

PUBLISHED: 08:30 GMT, 24 July 2013 | UPDATED: 10:41 GMT, 24 July 2013

2

A woman is fighting for her life after suffering a heart attack brought on by a horrific dog attack that has left her with severe wounds from head to toe.

Maria Arcos was set upon by a pack of at least 15 dogs while she was on her way to start a new job on Monday morning.

The 52-year-old, from Houston, was passing through an underpass when she was surrounded by the pack of strays, the ring leader of which is believed to be a pit bull cross.

The wild animals savaged her, pulling her to the ground and biting her arms and legs.

Arcos was left with severe wounds and is now in hospital in a critical condition. Her family fear the attack left her so badly injured she might not pull through.

Her stepson Oscar Reyes said: 'They were eating her - the dogs was eating her to the bone.

'They bit her arms, her legs, her neck. They cover her.

'Supposedly in 48 hours, if she doesn’t get better, she’s not going to make it.'

During the frenzied attack, Oscar claims his stepmother's clothes were ripped off and she now has severe wounds covering most of her body.

Although she was still conscious when officers arrived, the stress of the mauling caused her to have a heart attack.

Her family are keeping a constant vigil by her hospital bed.

Oscar added: 'They already have a lot of problems and then this happens. It shocks kind of everybody.'

Police officers came to the house to break the shocking news and Oscar has been tasked with letting the rest of his family know, some of whom have not been at home.

Arcos' horrifying ordeal occurred at about 6am on Monday near Lyons and Eastex Freeway in the Fifth Ward.

She had been walking to a nearby bus stop on her way to start a new job as a housekeeper, but only made it halfway there.

She was walking through an underpass when a pack of mixed-breed strays, said to number at least 15, set about her and pulled her to the ground.

She was only saved when a railroad worker witnessed her being savaged and called for help.

City of Houston animal control manager Chris Glaser said: 'Most of the time you won’t have them acting out in an aggressive manner like this.

'Usually you’ll have one or two, but an attack like this is very rare.

'It’s a pack mentality. That can happen when there’s an aggressive act by one and it continues.

'With that many dogs on her, she was being dragged up and down the street.'

Animal control officers traced the pack responsible to their den underneath a nearby mortuary.

They trapped the dogs in and have been trying to lure them into a single trap using food as bait.

So far they have captured five of the animals from underneath the mortuary, two of which are puppies and only about four months old.

Glaser said one of the dogs, a pit bull mix, appears to be the leader of the pack. He believes at least ten dogs are still hiding out underneath the mortuary.

Officers are visiting up to five times a day to check on the trap.

Glaser told KHOU 11 News all of the dogs would be tested for rabies and possibly destroyed.

[j]

Far out, what a dreadful thing to happen.

Poor woman

[mantis]

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

Sorry Mantis, it's another news story. Don't make it all about your dislike of anyone who posts a news story, particularly me - you act as if I actually invent them .... Why not report me to the moderators? Posting a news story - NO MATTER WHAT THE TOPIC - is the point of the news forum.

You just choose to highlight one aspect of it.

Edited July 24, 2013 by dogmad

[kayla1]

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

I couldn't care less who posted the story, because there is a woman fighting for her life after a horrific dog attack.

Poor woman, and her poor family.

[Dame Aussie]

How horrible I hope she makes it

[OSoSwift]

Geez with injures like that I think I would kind of hope I didn't wake up.

That poor woman to be concious the entire time, how horrendous.

And if a PIttie cross was involved it was!! Honestly, no-one made the dog be part of the attack, yes they should have reported what they thought the other 14 dogs were, but really, it is obviously a decent sized crossed bull breed dog. In that neck of the woods chances are, it is actually a Pitty cross.

[mita]

Seems to be a pack of dogs outside any human responsibility. I hope the authorities will investigate to see how this came to happen.

Aren't pitbulls & pitbull cross type dogs more common in some areas in the US?

Horrible thing to happen to the lady.

Something like that once happened in a Qld town. Elderly lady was killed when a bunch of what was said at the time to be pitbulls, jumped over the fence from next door. It was one of the triggers for BSL legislation being very easily passed in that State. Far too hastily, as it later turned out .... as evidence now points at other ways, than banning breeds, to support public safety.

Edited July 24, 2013 by mita

[sandgrubber]

Horrible story. Poor woman. Hope she survives.Stray dogs in Texas: of course there will be some pit bull blood. The pit is the favorite dog in less affluent regions of the US south, and the poor can't afford fencing. Bloody Houston. So anti government that they can't be bothered to control roaming dogs. Can you think of another major city that would allow the stray dog problem to get so out of hand that a pack of 15 could form? It's a disgrace.

[melzawelza]

How absolutely horrific! Unbelievable that a pack of 15 stray dogs have been able to form and live completely outside any human responsibility. That poor woman. What a terrible way to go.

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

Mantis, while I absolutely understand why it gets your back up it's really unhelpful to post this in every thread that Dogmad posts. She's allowed to post news articles for discussion, and those of us that wish to can comment on the thread itself if there is any breed specific denigration going on. No need to attack just for it being posted. You actually just end up making the whole thread about breed which is not an important factor in a case like this.

Horrible story. Poor woman. Hope she survives.Stray dogs in Texas: of course there will be some pit bull blood. The pit is the favorite dog in less affluent regions of the US south, and the poor can't afford fencing. Bloody Houston. So anti government that they can't be bothered to control roaming dogs. Can you think of another major city that would allow the stray dog problem to get so out of hand that a pack of 15 could form? It's a disgrace.

Depends how you're defining 'Pit Bull'.

If you're defining it as the generic catch-all term for any generic mixed breed dog that does not have any stand-out characteristics identifying it as NOT being a pit-bull type dog, as is usually done, then you're probably right.

But if you're defining it as the dog having actual American Pit Bull Terrier blood, then that's not as likely (but of course still possible).

Regardless, it doesn't actually matter what breed the ringleader or any of the other dogs were. There are so many other factors here that explain EXACTLY why this happened, and the last on the list when ordered by importance would be breed.

Edited July 25, 2013 by melzawelza

[raz]

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

For goodness sake it's a news article in the news subforum.

That poor woman.

[twodoggies2001]

Dogmad & Pitbull story.

Make a mental note. "I must think before I write"

[mita]

The story in no way is influenced by dogmad posting it. If Joe Blow posted it, the circumstances would be the same. Another case where breed label suddenly takes centre stage.... when all the causes of this situation lie in what humans did or did not do. Mantis.... I would have thought you'd agree with how some posts in this thread, teased that out?

Edited July 25, 2013 by mita

[Salukifan]

I read somewhere a while back that packs of semi-wild dogs were creating serious safety issues in some parts of the USA.

I'll have to try to dig that up.

[_PL_]

How terrible. And now she's going to need rabies shots as well on top of physical and psychological damage. Then there's the heart attack. And the American medical bills for a housekeeper who probably had no insurance don't bear thinking about. That poor poor woman.

[melzawelza]

How terrible. And now she's going to need rabies shots as well on top of physical and psychological damage. Then there's the heart attack. And the American medical bills for a housekeeper who probably had no insurance don't bear thinking about. That poor poor woman.

Hadn't even thought of that

Awful.

[Kirislin]

How terrible. And now she's going to need rabies shots as well on top of physical and psychological damage. Then there's the heart attack. And the American medical bills for a housekeeper who probably had no insurance don't bear thinking about. That poor poor woman.

Hadn't even thought of that

Awful.

Nor had I. I wonder if she could sue the council.

I cannot imagine how frightening it must have been when she realised they were stalking her to attack.

[Tibbie_tabbie]

Having lived in Houston I can safely say any stray dogs in an upper class area would be dealt with ASAP.

Unfortunately change the area to low income and nothing gets done

Poor lady, I hope she pulls through. Usually in a well published case like this generous people will help cover medical costs.

[sandgrubber]

Depends how you're defining 'Pit Bull'.

If you're defining it as the generic catch-all term for any generic mixed breed dog that does not have any stand-out characteristics identifying it as NOT being a pit-bull type dog, as is usually done, then you're probably right.

But if you're defining it as the dog having actual American Pit Bull Terrier blood, then that's not as likely (but of course still possible).

Regardless, it doesn't actually matter what breed the ringleader or any of the other dogs were. There are so many other factors here that explain EXACTLY why this happened, and the last on the list when ordered by importance would be breed.

The pedigree American pit bull terrier emerged from a land race, called pit bull, or simply 'pit' in the US. The land race is especially common in poor areas of the South. If you do a web search on 'pedigree pit bull' and look at the resulting photos, you'll find that there is a lot of variation in pedigree pit bulls. Some are broad and muscled like they are on steroids. Some are lean and not overbuilt. If you're talking about a free roaming urban dog pack in Texas, you can count on some of them coming from the land race, though the wankers who keep pedigree fighting pit bulls almost never desex them, and their genes (which are hard to distinguish from the land race dogs) do find their way onto the street. Staffies are not common in the US, so staffy mix isn't expected., as it might be in Oz.

You're right, the breed of the pack leader doesn't matter. BFD, pit bull. Good thing it wasn't a mastiff. Unlikely it would be a chihuahua (the other common breed-type in those parts). The notable thing is that dog management has disintegrated to the point where there are large roaming packs of dogs in a major metropolitan area.

Edited July 26, 2013 by sandgrubber

[sandgrubber]

Thenpoor woman is still alive in critical condition. As for the dogs:

"City of Houston animal control manager Chris Glaser told KHOU 11 News, 'Most of the time you won’t have them acting out in an aggressive manner like this.”

'It’s a pack mentality. That can happen when there’s an aggressive act by one and it continues. With that many dogs on her, she was being dragged up and down the street,' he said.

Officers were able to trace the dogs to their den underneath a nearby mortuary by following their foot prints

Glaser said one of the dogs, a Pit Bull mix, appears to be the leader of the pack. He believes at least ten dogs are still hiding underneath the mortuary. Animal control officers have trapped the dogs in, leaving only one exit, and are now trying to lure them into a single large kennel-type trap using food as bait.

So far they have captured five of the animals from underneath the mortuary, two of which are puppies and only about four months of age, Glaser said. Officers are visiting up to five times a day to check on the trap.

Glaser told KHOU 11 all of the dogs would be tested for rabies and then possibly destroyed.

Oscar Reyes says family members are keeping a constant vigil at his stepmother's hospital bedside, praying that she will live.

VIDEO: http://www.khou.com/news/local/Houston-woman-in-critical-condition-after-pack-of-15-dogs-attack-216692361.html"