SAN ANTONIO – Elizabeth Daniel and her dog Torin walk the Leon Creek Greenway trail every morning, but last Friday, she says everything changed.
While on their usual path, Daniel and Torin passed by a homeless couple and two dogs. One was on a leash and under the control of the couple. The other wore a leash and harness, but no one was holding it.
“Are you gonna get your dog?” Daniel says she asked the couple.
But before they could respond…
“The dog just starts to charge at us,” Daniel said. “And I start to turn with my dog, and before I know it, that dog is latched onto my dog.”
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She started hitting the loose dog, trying to fight it off of Torin, but then it lunged at her.
“I’ve got about eight wounds on my leg,” Daniel said Tuesday, showing us her bandage. “I could be dead, and my dog could be dead right now, if I didn’t have my knife.”
Daniel says after seeing news coverage of dog maulings, she started carrying a knife on her belt bag just in case anything happened. Now, she credits it with saving her life.
“I never wanted to use it,” Daniel said. “I’m glad I had it because I’d probably be dead or severely mangled.”
She stabbed at the dog until it released her, but it grabbed on to Torin again.
Eventually, the dog released Torin.
Daniel and her dog both needed significant medical attention.
She says a Good Samaritan ended up calling 911 for her while the homeless couple ran away.
While paramedics were bandaging them up, she says another homeless man came up asking what happened to his dog, which was laying bloody on the pavement.
“He left his dog there and just ran,” Daniel said.
Previous reports
Animal Care Services is now investigating this incident, but Daniel says it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
“This was negligence on the city’s part because I’m constantly calling about stray dogs,” she said.
We even saw stray dogs out at the trailhead when we showed up to talk to Daniels on Tuesday. She says she’s reported them before, but no one has come to pick them up.
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News 4 provided ACS with a list of reports Daniels has submitted in recent days and weeks.
An ACS spokesperson tells us they did find five reports from Daniels, but “they were connected to roaming dogs in that area and have no mention of threatening animals.”
Daniels submitted a report on July 9 at the same trailhead where she was attacked, but the city’s 311 request map shows it was closed just 19 minutes after it was created.
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The investigation
The attacking dog, which officials say is named Chacho, is in quarantine at ACS for ten days.
The agency says he did have a microchip and is actually registered to a local family. They say he’d been missing for three years.
Now, that family wants to reclaim the dog.
But Daniel is calling for accountability.
ACS says if the family does take Chacho back, they won’t receive the citation for the attack since it was a homeless person who had been caring for the dog at the time.
But the homeless person hasn’t been located.
ACS says officials are still searching for him.
“I’m angry that the city is putting my tax dollars into saving this animal that hurt me and my dog,” Daniel told us.
She plans to file an aggressive/dangerous dog affidavit after the attack, but she says it’s unacceptable that she reported strays so many times with no results.
“I’ve been reporting for over a year about stray animals and ACS doesn’t do anything,” Daniel said.
Daniel says her dog feels skittish being outside after the attack but is healing from his wounds.
Her leg is still swollen and bandaged, but Daniel says she feels like she needs to go warn the other people who walk on the trail every day.
“I don’t know their names, but we say ‘good morning’ every day,” Daniel said. “I feel like I need to tell them, have protection on you and do whatever you can to stay safe.”
We reached out to Rep. Ray Lopez who represents this area.
He sent the following statement:
While I know that the City of SA is working to address the dog bite problem, it is imperative that dog owners take responsibility.
As a frequent user of our trail system, I have heard and seen the safety concerns and we are working with the city to create a safe experience.
Enforcement by park police and a higher presence is needed. The recent addition of a SAPD bike patrol substation on Culebra Creek Trailhead is the right approach.
Last legislative session I supported my colleagues on HB 4759 which would upgrade the criminal charge for aggressive dog attack to a Class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a third degree felony for multiple violations. This bill had bipartisan support but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Abbott.
Keeping the victims in my prayers on the long road to recovery.
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