Ethiopian Review

Passing Motorist Stops To Help Victim

SAN ANTONIO — A 65-year-old man was attacked by two dogs Thursday evening on the city’s west side.

Jacob Zaragosa said that he was walking to a neighbor’s house around sunset when he was chased down by two dogs that escaped from a partially-opened driveway gate.

“His paws were on my chest. They were getting ready to get serious with me,” said Zaragosa, whose torn T-shirt sleeve revealed bites and bruising on his right shoulder.

Zaragosa said that the pair of pit bulls or pit bull mixes knocked him to the pavement.

“Right there, it came at me,” he said. “I fell and that’s when he came to help me out.”

A passing motorist came to a screeching halt and sounded his horn. He then jumped out of his vehicle and waved a shovel at the dogs, scaring them off.

“They’ve done it before, but this is the first time they bit me,” Zaragosa said. Other neighbors later approached him and told similar stories of the dogs barking and chasing anyone going by the house.

“It’s bad enough me, but what if they do that to a little kid?” said Zaragosa, who was treated at the scene for the bite to his shoulder and his hand. He also complained that his hip had been hurt in the fall.

When police and emergency medical services arrived, the two dogs had retreated to the porch and driveway of the house, where there was one other dog and two pups.

The dogs’ owner, Juan Alva, arrived after his brother called him and told him what had happened.

“Well, I’m sorry. What can I say?” Alva said. “The dog just got out. I can’t be responsible for whatever happened to him.”

Alva said he had the dogs for protection because his home had been broken into and his truck stolen.

Alva was issued four citations by Animal Care Services for the dog bite, no proof of a rabies vaccination, no city license, and for both dogs being free of any restraints.

One of the dogs was taken away to the pound, claiming it was a stray that had been hanging out at his house for about a month. But, according to the ACS officer, an animal is no longer considered a stray after he is fed by someone for three days.

Alva also was ordered to have another dog placed under quarantine at a veterinarian’s office because it had not been vaccinated in at least a year.

By Jessie Degollado, | ksat