Elderly man maimed to death in ‘horrific’ dog attack in San Antonio, Texas.
Around 1:45 p.m. Friday, firefighters were dispatched to a residential neighborhood in San Antonio after reports of an elderly man “being dragged by a dog.” When firefighters arrived at the scene, they could see the 81-year-old man “completely bleeding before he got out of the fire truck,” according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.
The two American Staffordshire terriers also attacked two other people. Police said the dogs caused “visible bite injuries to both victims.”
The dogs were aggressive with the firefighters and prevented them from helping the victims. SAFD firefighters were forced to defend themselves with pickets and pike poles as they tried to attend to the victims.
Hood said, “This is not a normal thing for us. We don’t usually come forward and have to defend patients from animals or ourselves.”
A fire captain was bitten on the leg but will recover from his injuries. Another person would have been bitten on the hand.
The three victims were taken to the University Hospital for their injuries from the dog attack. The elderly man was bled at the scene but later died from his injuries. A 74-year-old female victim is conscious but in critical condition, according to SAFD.
Hood said the firefighters’ actions were “very heroic.”
“Horrible scene, horrible for the people who lived through it and horrible for our firefighters who were a part of it,” Hood said.
Police said the two American Staffordshire terriers escaped from their yard and attacked the couple.
The agents of the San Antonio Police Department arrested the owner of the dogs.
Christian Alexander Moreno, 31, was charged with felony assault by dangerous dog causing death and felony injury to an elderly person, according to a SAPD release.
Shannon Sims, director of San Antonio Animal Care Services, said Friday that three dogs were seized by animal control. All three dogs were owned by the same owner, but only two were suspected in the fatal dog attack.
San Antonio Animal Care Services said the three dogs were scheduled to be euthanized Friday.
Sims told KSAT-TV that the shelter had received numerous calls from concerned neighbors in the past two years who claimed the dogs were neglected and appeared lost.
Sims said the two Staffordshire terriers, a male and a female, were involved in a “pre-biting” incident in 2021. The animals were temporarily detained after the incident and then returned to their owners.
The Spruce Pets notes the differences between American Staffordshire terriers and American pit bull terriers:
There is no technical breed called a pit bull. There is, however, a breed called the American pit bull terrier. Generally speaking, the American Staffordshire Terrier is almost the same as the American Pit Bull Terrier. The main difference is that Am Staffs fit a narrower size range, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC) standard, and American Pit Bull Terriers have greater variations in size and other physical traits.
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Elderly man dead, two others injured after West Side dog attack, officials say www.youtube.com