Dogs suspected of killing 82-year-old Tarrant County man returned to owner
Three dogs seized from a Tarrant County property near Eagle Mountain Lake on suspicion of killing an 82-year-old man working in his yard have been returned to their owner following a hearing before a justice of the peace Friday.
“There’s not enough (evidence) to deem these dogs dangerous,” Judge Christopher Gregory said at the end of the two-hour hearing, which included testimony from one of the victim’s neighbors.
The dogs — a brown pit bull terrier, a black Shepherd mix and a white Shepherd/Shiba Inu mix — have been in the custody of Fort Worth Animal Control since June 17, the day after Ronald Anderson was found dead inside his home. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Anderson’s death an accident caused by “canine mauling.”
Investigators with the sheriff’s office found paw prints behind Anderson’s house and a hole in the fence that separated his yard from the property on Ten Mile Bridge Road where the dogs were kept. According to a warrant, the dogs’ owner was given 11 days to comply with the requirements of Texas law concerning dangerous dogs or request a hearing in Tarrant County’s Justice of the Peace Court 4.
A dangerous dog is defined in the law as one that attacks and injures a person unprovoked while outside their enclosure. They are required to wear a special tag, be kept on a leash or inside a secure area at all times, and be registered every year with the local animal control.
At Friday’s hearing, attorneys representing the state of Texas requested the dogs be euthanized or at least not returned to their owner.
Neighbor feared for her safety
One of Anderson’s neighbors, who also shares a fence line with the dogs’ owner, told the court that the dogs caused her to fear for her safety. The brown pit bull terrier especially would bark at her constantly every time she went outside, she said.
When she cleaned her chain-link fence, the brown dog tried to bite the tools she was using, the neighbor said. She finally hired someone else to do the work and eventually installed a high privacy fence.
“I was intimidated by the dog,” the neighbor said. “I thought he was too aggressive.”
Detective Kelly Holland with the sheriff’s office was called to Anderson’s home in the 7800 block of Slay Street to investigate the scene of his death. She told the court Friday that the victim had several “jagged” wounds on his body that “were consistent with that of a dog attack.”
The detective testified that she found paw prints in Anderson’s back yard near a hat and a torn work glove. A trail of paw prints appeared to lead to a hole in the fence. Something had been laid over the hole, but it wasn’t secured to anything and left a gap that a dog could fit through.
“Based on the evidence that day, we believe the dogs came from Ten Mile Road,” Holland said.
According to Holland, there’s no record of anyone calling 911 or animal control to report the three dogs. She’s also not aware of any camera or video footage that would show what happened to Anderson.
Insufficient evidence
Defense attorneys Justin Sparks and Steven Ditommaso argued there wasn’t enough evidence to link the three animals to Anderson’s death.
“The issue here is we have an incomplete investigation,” Sparks told the court.
The results of the victim’s autopsy, including bite mark analysis and DNA testing, won’t be available for several more weeks. The law required the hearing take place within a certain timeframe, Sparks said, but it’s impossible to prove right now that the dogs from the Ten Mile Bridge Road property caused Anderson’s death.
Other neighbors in the area have dogs, according to Sparks and Ditommaso. One of them could have entered Anderson’s back yard through the broken gate his son mentioned to investigators. A “Beware of Dog” sign is posted in the front yard of a home on Anderson’s street, and stray dogs and coyotes have also been seen in the heavily wooded neighborhood.
Gregory agreed there’s not enough evidence at this time to euthanize the dogs or keep them in animal control custody. He instructed the owner to keeps the animals secured pending the results of the bite mark analysis and DNA test.
No arrests have been made in the case or no criminal charges have been filed.
