Woman dies in apparent dog mauling

By Ben Tinsley
The Daily News

Published March 18, 2007

FRIENDSWOOD — Landscape workers on their way to mow a yard at a home in the Forest of Friendswood subdivision Saturday discovered the body of a 50-year-old-woman who had apparently been mauled to death by one of three dogs.

The first police officer to arrive at the scene was forced to shoot and kill one of the dogs, a pit bull, because it was trying to attack, said Friendswood officer Lisa Price. The animal died instantly.

“All three dogs were in the backyard, but the pit bull was the one that tried to attack,” she said.

Police took the two other dogs — one of them a golden terrier — into custody with the intention of testing them for rabies and other diseases, officials said.

Friendswood police declined to name the victim Saturday because her next of kin had not been notified. She was discovered in the backyard surrounded by her own blood. Authorities verified the woman had been dead for hours when she was found.

After spotting the body, the landscape workers could not enter the backyard or approach the woman because the three dogs aggressively kept them behind a gate, fearing for their own safety. They told a neighbor, who called 911.

Police were called to the 300 block of Meadow Trail Court about 5:45 p.m., according to police reports.

Three Friendswood police officers arrived less than a minute after being dispatched, police said.

One of the two remaining dogs escaped the fenced backyard and was at large in the neighborhood for 30 minutes, although the animal didn’t escape the sight of Friendswood officers during that time. Police had to subdue the dog with a taser.

No one else was at the home when officers arrived, and a time of death has not yet been determined. The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office was called to the scene, which remained under investigation Saturday evening.

Price said such attacks are not uncommon to anyone who watches the news.

“We’ve seen cases in the news headlines before — for instance, when a dog recently attacked an infant — but I don’t know if this has happened in Friendswood before,” she said.