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E-mail This StoryA group of pit bull dogs escaped their yard, attacked and killed a neighbor’s Springer spaniel in The Colony on Aug. 29.
The pit bulls were owned by Barry Mims. The Colony Animal Control officers found five adult dogs and a litter of seven pups, about a month old. Mims signed three of the adult dogs over to animal control officers. The rest of the dogs were also confiscated because of their health and poor living conditions.
According to Tricia Barrington, manager of the animal control division of The Colony Police Department, three of the adult dogs have been euthanized because of their severe wounds and their lack of socialization. Two of the adult dogs and the litter of pups are at The Colony animal control shelter as of Tuesday.
She said they are hoping that rescue agencies will take on the remaining dogs and pups because, with treatment and getting them used to being around humans, they have a chance of eventually being adopted, especially the pups.
Mims was charged with animal trespassing on private property and animals attacking or damaging property. Mims has a choice of paying the fees or requesting a court date when he would have a chance to prove the charges were unfounded. Barrington said the fees could be from $200 to $400 per charge.
She added that the animal control division has been aware of Mims for awhile, but they could not go onto his property to examine the dogs, because as near as they could tell, he was within the city ordinance for keeping pets.
The attack last Wednesday allowed them to examine all of the dogs. She said the dogs are dog
aggressive, not people aggressive. She doesn’t think a human would have been hurt unless they had tried to break up a dog fight.
She said the dogs in the shelter have been very easy to handle and happy for the attention. “This was not organized criminal activity,” said Barrington. “The dogs are canine-aggressive. The wounds on the three that were euthanized were very severe.”
She also said the remaining dogs will have to be euthanized if rescue agencies do not take them in. “They have lots of conditions that could be prevented. The dogs are the true victims here,” she said.
The Springer spaniel that was killed was 13 years old and its owner was a 13-year-old girl.
