Social Media Connects Dog Attack Victims
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - A dog attack lands a pet in quarantine, and a social media campaign reveals the dog is a repeat offender.
Two people and two pets have already been attacked by this dog. Now some worry that this school playground across the street from the dog's owner could be vulnerable, and school officials are monitoring surrounding gates and fences.
No one understands Amy McGriff's special needs more than her beloved Bichon Frise, Sugar.
"I was really scared. I told my mom, please take me to the hospital," McGriff said.
McGriff didn't even realize her own hand was bleeding until after she got Sugar home. She says a large Black Labrador mix broke free from its owner and attacked her dog, then attacked her.
"But once she got bitten, I heard her cry, so when I heard her cry, I covered her up. I took responsibility for Sugar more than myself because that's my dog," McGriff said.
Plano's Animal Services placed the Lab mix in quarantine. Then McGriff's mom began to learn this wasn't an isolated incident.
"What happened was, I put that on nextdoor, and I asked... I had a lady call me, and said I think that's my next door neighbor's dog," Barbara McGriff said.
That neighbor, who didn't want to appear on camera, told us the same dog attacked her husband several months ago. Then neighbors say it happened again.
"Dog was let out of quarantine, then three days later I see that he's bitten someone else," Barbara McGriff said.
Just last week a man was walking his dog, Lilly, when he says she was also attacked by the same dog. The owner of the Lab-mix insists he can prevent more attacks, but these incidents have left victims fearful of what could happen next.
"I'm not walking that way any more," Amy McGriff said.
The city's animal services director tells us in order for them to do more, they would need to receive a dangerous animal complaint. Two of the victims tell us they plan to file complaints.
The owner of the quarantined dog also declined to go on camera, but he tells us he has cooperated with animal control and will cooperate with any future investigation.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
