Councilman on Dallas woman killed by dogs: ‘The city is failing'

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The day after a woman attacked by a pack of dogs died, at least one Dallas city council member is calling for changes to how the city handles loose dog complaints.

Neighbors say loose dogs have terrorized the South Dallas community for more than a year, but nothing was ever done.

The Dallas Police Department refused for the second day in a row to answer questions about why they did not seize the dangerous dogs immediately and why a neighbor was told to call 311 instead of 911 when they spotted the dangerous dogs on the loose.

Antoinette Brown died Monday afternoon after she was attacked by a pack of six dogs on the morning of May 2. Yet dogs remained on the loose until May 6.

After the attack, police told Jackie Humphrey if she saw the loose dogs to call 311. But when she did, she was told they wouldn't respond for three days.

“I hung up on the man,” said Humphrey. “What good did it do to call you if you're not going to do anything?"

Dallas city officials have not explained why it had not done anything about the complaints long before the attack.

“I called last year when they ate my dog,” said Humphrey.

“We keep saying something needs to be done about these dogs,” said Dallas City Council Member Scott Griggs.

The councilman says the council has urged the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Animal Services to communicate better for months.

“We need to hold our city manager accountable because we've asked for changes,” said Griggs. “The city is failing, not only Ms. Brown and her family, but all of Dallas by not having a plan and not executing that plan. And the council is now failing by not holding A.C. Gonzales accountable."

The Dallas Police Department did not put out any information about the dog attack for five days.

On Sunday, Dallas Chief Brown tweeted the police department was "working with neighbors to capture the dogs before owners could get rid of the dogs...owners could face charges."

However, Chief Brown has not explained why it took so long to get the dogs.

Griggs says he wants a full report from the police department, animal services and the city manager about what went wrong and an answer about when there will finally be a plan to solve the city’s loose dog problem.