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On Friday, February 24, a deadly dog attack left an 80-year-old man dead and three others injured in San Antonio. The three survivors, who were transported to local hospitals, included a fire captain.
Video footage of the horrific scene shows the responding officers and SAFD firefighters defending themselves from the feral dogs with pickaxes and poles in a residential neighborhood. At a news conference on Friday, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood stated:
"This is not something normal for us. We don’t usually show up and have to defend patients from animals."
While describing the scene, the chief said that first responders saw a bloodied elderly man being dragged around a corner by a couple of dogs. According to officials, the two victims sustained "visible bite injuries." A fire captain also suffered a bite wound to the leg.
Dogs involved in the gruesome San Antonio attack are soon to be euthanized
On Friday afternoon, an elderly couple became the victims of a brutal dog attack in a West Side neighborhood. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told KSAT that officers found a "completely bloodied" man being mauled by two American Staffordshire terriers. The elderly woman also sustained injuries and is reportedly in a critical condition.
Even though the elderly man was given blood at the scene of the accident, he could not be saved. According to San Antonio Police, the deceased and the 74-year-old woman were visiting friends in the neighborhood when two dogs ran out of a neighbor's yard and attacked them. The surviving victims are undergoing treatment at University Hospital.
Fire Chief Charles Hood said:
"Horrific scene, horrific for the people who experienced it and horrific for our firefighters that were part of this."
The dogs involved in the attack and another unrestrained dog from the same residence were taken into the custody of San Antonio Animal Care Services. A press release from the local Animal Care Services stated that all three dogs would be euthanized on Friday night. The press release said:
"Animal Care Services has identified three owned dogs either directly involved in the attack or who were off property at the time. All three dogs are in SAACS custody and will be euthanized tonight."
The press release further said:
"Witnesses indicate the dogs had broken through the front gate of their nearby home just before the incident."
Animal Care Services Director Shannon Sims identified the American Staffordshire Terriers as being reportedly involved in another attack two years ago, where the victim was left with a "mild bite."
Shannon Sims told SBG San Antonio:
"Those bites were mild. So those animals finished their state-required quarantine, and the owner played paid reclaim fees, and by state law, we were required to return those animals."
The owner of the dogs, Christian Moreno, 31, has been charged with felony charges of attack by a dangerous dog causing death and injury to an elderly man. Neighbors have accused him of repeated instances of neglect when it came to his three dogs.
