Michelle Gomez of Caldwell County, Texas, was beyond tired of living in fear of the pitbull terriers owned by her neighbors; she said the dogs have been responsible for numerous attacks on livestock and other animals that have left the animals dead.
So her husband shot and killed the three pitbulls, and his wife is backing him up, saying “enough is enough.”
On August 2, the dogs got into her property, either by climbing over the fence or burrowing underneath it. Once inside her yard, the pitbulls grabbed one of Gomez’s pigs and mauled it, though the pig survived.
It’s been a neighborhood reign of terror for years, as the aggressive dogs are known to have slaughtered a miniature horse and three chickens. Gomez said she and her husband were tired of the worry and that she feared for her life.
Shooting the dogs is not the outcome Gomez wanted, but what else could the family do if an owner refuses to keep dangerous dogs confined? She said police have told her citizens have a right to defend themselves against aggressive dogs, even if that means killing them. But “I don’t like to kill dogs,” she said.
The Gomezes are not the only family with similar worries. The Caldwell County Sheriff’s office said it has received more than 45 calls about stray dogs, unconfined animals, and animal cruelty over the past 30 months.
Gomez’s neighbor, the one with the pitbulls, has been warned before, receiving two citations for animals that create a nuisance, and went to court and paid the fines. But it has not fixed the problem.
Gomez said citations are not the solution. “They need to pick up the dogs,” she said.
Communication out of the Sheriff’s office about the situation has been ambiguous, and Gomez said she’s planning to sue both her neighbor and the Sheriff’s department.
