A man was mauled to death by multiple dogs in Albany, New York, this week, during what police are calling a “horrific attack.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, around 5:55 p.m. local time, Albany Police Department (APD) officers responded to a call about “multiple dogs” attacking a man at the 500 block of Central Avenue, the department said in a post shared on Facebook.
Responding officers “observed the dogs fatally attacking the man” when they arrived, before an APD officer shot one of the dogs “in an attempt to stop the attack,” authorities said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins revealed at a news conference, covered by NBC affiliate WNYT and CBS affiliate WRGB, that the individual was James Provost, 59, of Schenectady.
“All of the dogs have been accounted for, and the Albany Police Department is currently in the process of placing them in an appropriate homing facility,” the department said on Facebook shortly after the attack.
A spokesperson for the Albany Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for updated information on Saturday, Oct. 12.
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Witnesses told WRGB that they first heard the attack when the man was calling for help as the dogs were barking.
Hawkins said, per the outlet, that Provost was attacked by eight or nine dogs that lived in a home next to the scene of the attack. Per WRBG, 23 mixed-breed Pitbull dogs, including 15 puppies, were later seized.
The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society arrived at the scene around 8 p.m., according to the outlet, hauling dogs in crates into a van. Police remained on the scene for hours, WRGB said.
The dogs’ caregiver has been cooperative in the investigation, WNYT reported, citing Hawkins’ news conference.
Hawkins also said a judge will have to rule on what happens next to the dogs following the investigation. He added that none of the animals had proper licenses.
“We put these dogs in a place where they can’t cause any further harm, a place where they can’t escape, a place where they can be kept while this matter is adjudicated, and once that happens, then some other authority will make some decision as to whether or not these dogs are released to home or whether some or all of these dogs are euthanized,” Hawkins said, per WRGB.
Hawkins also said police are working with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office to determine if there will be criminal charges related to the dog attack.
“It was a horrific attack. Obviously, when you’re keeping that many animals in a location in violation of city ordinance, and some of those animals kill a person, there’s certainly a possibility for it,” he said.
A local resident told WRGB after the attack that it was “the first time I have ever witnessed something like this.”
“This is something that’s serious. And then now people got to really look out. You got to know how to control your dogs. At the end of the day, if they are trained or not … it takes a little dog to end somebody’s life.”
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