OKC woman mauled to death by dogs
An Oklahoma City woman was mauled to death by two dogs Thursday in a northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood where residents said they’ve had problems for years with dogs running loose.
Police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said the woman, whose name was not released, was walking a small dog near the 11600 block of Windmill Road when she was attacked by two large dogs.
“During this attack, the woman’s dog and the woman, sadly, were both killed, they were both mauled to death by the two dogs,” Knight said.
Officers were sent to the area about 1:50 p.m. after a passerby called to report the attack.
“When officers arrived they tried to get to the woman to render aid to her, they were not able to get to her because of the dogs,” Knight said.
One of the dogs was shot and killed by an officer. The other was hit by a police car. Police said one was a pit bull. The breed of the second dog was not known.
Jerry Bowerman has lived for 36 years in the neighborhood near NW 122 and Council Road. He thinks they were the same dogs he called to complain about on Monday.
“I called 911 and told them that I had dogs in my neighborhood that were chasing kids. No one ever came out. I gave them my name and phone number and all that stuff,” he said.
“Inaction really led to this.”
Kristy Yager, spokeswoman for Oklahoma City, said animal control officers have received only one complaint of a loose dog in the neighborhood in the past year.
The report, made in February, cited a concern of a loose vicious dog, a “white pit bull,” Yager said. Animal control officers went to the area but were unable to find the dog.
Yager said by the time animal control officers respond to an area, the animals are often nowhere to be found.
Bowerman said he carries a gun with him at all times anyway, but also in case of aggressive dogs like the one he encountered while walking his chocolate Labrador in the neighborhood last year.
Tim Pool has lived in the neighborhood 30 years. He walks three or four miles every day and said he’s had five or six run-ins with dogs over the years.
“We were just sickened. We were stunned by it,” he said of Thursday’s mauling.
Pool said the incident angers him and he hopes it’s a lesson for all, and that he hurts for the family of the woman killed Thursday.
“The same feelings of anger we have, they have multiplied by loss,” he said.
The house where the wounded dog ran before being captured by animal control was surrounded by crime scene tape. Bowerman said a gray female pit bull and a “huge” white male pit bull live at the home.