After a suburban mother was brutally mauled by two dogs in Harvey, residents want to know why they weren’t warned that one of the dogs was still on the loose.
Donna Hale, 58, was mauled by two 80-pound rottweilers in the April attack. Part of her foot had to be amputated, and she has undergone a series of seven surgeries since the attack, including one on Wednesday prior to speaking to NBC Chicago’s Regina Waldroup.
Now, Harvey’s mayor says that conversations about animal control in the community have remained ongoing both before and since the attack, but residents are demanding more action to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
The two dogs were seen on video mauling Hale during the attack, ripping off her clothing and dragging her up and down a street in the suburban community.
“They dragged me up and down the street, and I’m yelling, and they were strong,” she said.
One of the dogs was shot by a witness to the attack and was later euthanized by Cook County Animal Care and Control, but the other was not found after the incident.
It was a horrifying scene for a 58-year-old woman as she was dragged up and down a suburban Harvey street while being mauled by a pair of dogs.
Now, residents are demanding answers as to why they weren’t notified of the attack, and that one of the dogs hadn’t been located.
“These are city streets, and if you are walking around, it is their responsibility,” one said.
“I found out this morning on the news. I think the city should have sent out an alert,” another added.
According to Cook County officials, it is up to individual municipalities to determine whether to issue community alerts when incidents occur within their jurisdiction. NBC Chicago has reached out to the office of Harvey’s mayor for a statement on the matter, but have not received a response at this time.
Animal control issues in the community were the center of focus at a recent forum, which was also attended by the Anti-Cruelty Society and other activism groups.
“There was some that were aware that the dogs had been out and about for quite some time, but there was no action taken, and we didn’t find out about it until, of course, it was too late,” Mayor Christopher Clark said.
Numbers shared at the community meeting showed that one dog bite call had been received in the month of January, but that a total of 78 calls had been made for loose animals in the community.
A total of 38 complaints of loose animals were levied in February, and 95 each in March and April, according to officials.
The city recently hired two officers to specifically handle animal control issues to bring the matter under control, according to officials. The officers are being trained by Cook County for free, and the hope is to have them on active duty by July.
While those officers will help, Clark said that the community also needs to do its part.
“That’s the reason why we want the dogs to be registered, and why we want the microchip, and the reason why we want people to be more responsible or to own this so that this doesn’t happen,” he said.
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