ALBANY — A Schenectady man was killed in an Albany dog attack on Wednesday evening after he was mauled by multiple dogs in the backyard of a Central Avenue home.
James Provost, 59, was mauled to death by eight or nine pit bulls on Wednesday and pronounced dead at the scene after receiving medical care from first responders.
Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said the victim suffered several wounds from the dog attack that led to his death, which took place in a yard adjacent to where the dogs were being kept.
“We’re going to do everything we can to bring justice for this person that was viciously attacked in this horrific attack,” Hawkins said on Thursday.
Police received a call at approximately 5:54 p.m. on Wednesday of a victim being attacked by dogs in the backyard of a residence on the 500 block of Central Avenue.
“This remains an active investigation and we’re still trying to determine exactly why the victim was in the rear of the residence,” Hawkins said during a Thursday afternoon press briefing. “We’re still trying to figure out why the owner of those dogs kept so many dogs at that one location.”
During the response, an officer shot and killed one of the dogs. Police found 24 mixed breed pit bulls at the residence, with 15 being puppies.
Hawkins said the unidentified owner of the dogs resides in Cohoes, noting that a separate animal caregiver arrived onsite on Wednesday to assist in corralling the dogs.
Hawkins said the police did not know Provost’s connection to the Central Avenue address, but noted that he did not reside there. Hawkins said that Albany animal control officers and staff from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society recovered the remaining 23 dogs and transported them to the humane society.
The police chief said that there is the potential for criminal charges in connection to the case.
“There’s certainly a possibility, we just don’t know what they are,” Hawkins said. “This 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 actually kill a person, there’s certainly a possibility for it.”
Hawkins said the department had not received any prior calls regarding the animals at the Central Avenue home.
“We’re going to use every available resource to find out what was happening in that place and we’re going to find out if somebody is criminally responsible for this,” Hawkins said on Thursday.
Hawkins said the Central Avenue residence had been the previous site of a drug investigation.
“There were some very questionable activities going on at that place,” Hawkins said on Thursday.
–
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
