Dallas, Texas, with a population of 7,102,796 residents, is the largest urban center of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. South Dallas is a distinct neighborhood southeast of Downtown Dallas.
The stray dog problem in South Dallas was thrust into the spotlight after the mauling death of 52-year-old Antoinette Brown on May 2, 2016. The woman suffered over 100 bites to her body by dogs who tore into her like they were “eating a steak,” said her family, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The heartbreaking facts of the attack and death of Brown opened up an investigation that revealed that the city had been repeatedly contacted, at least 11 times over a period of three years, about dogs roaming loose that reportedly came from a home nearby. What did the city do in all those cases?
The owners who lived in the house were issued citations, had their dogs removed and promptly got more dogs that they let run loose in a repeating cycle that eventually ended in tragedy. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that Dallas Animal Control was not notified about the dog mauling attack by the Dallas Police Department until 72 hours after the woman’s death.
“We have identified several communication gaps as the events of the last week unfolded,” the city manager said in a written statement on May 10. The incident also revealed that Ms. Brown’s death was not the first incident of a person being attacked by stray dogs in the South Dallas part of the city.
Boston Consulting Group report
After the Brown attack, Dallas city fathers commissioned a report on the stray dog problem, using The Boston Consulting Group. The report was published on September 10, 2016, and showed there were an estimated 8,700 loose or stray dogs in South Dallas. At least 85 percent of those dogs were neither spayed or neutered, allowing the population to grow.
The report also noted that dog bite reports had gone up 23 percent in South Dallas between 2013 and 2015. A town hall meeting was called on Monday night last week to discuss the consulting group’s findings and recommendations, as well as to hear the public’s input into the problem.
According to NBC5.com, Claudia Fowler, who lives in the Joppa Community, said, “People take and drop dogs off in my neighborhood!”
But the most astute comment made came from Peter Brodsky of the Dallas Animal Commission. “This is not a dog problem,” he said. “It’s a people problem.”
A second town hall meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday night as city officials mull over the report. One woman, Patricia Williams, said, “We need the dogs picked up immediately before there becomes another tragedy.”
