10-year-old mauled in ‘horrendous’ attack by neighbor’s loose dogs, TX suit says

The family of a 10-year-old boy who suffered a “violent and horrendous” attack by a trio of loose dogs is suing their neighbor for $1 million, a Texas law firm said.

Deputies responded to a home in Hemphill on Aug. 13 regarding a dog attack, and quickly found a young boy on the ground in the backyard of the residence “actively bleeding from both legs and other parts of the body,” the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

A deputy applied tourniquets to slow the bleeding and the child was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the sheriff’s office.

While at the scene, deputies said they heard gunshots coming from a nearby home and went to investigate. At the neighboring home deputies saw a man and woman, the owners of the dogs involved in the attack, rounding up the animals to put them down.

Deputies say they saw a dog get dragged out of view, then heard three gunshots. However, after killing two of the dogs, the man ran out of ammo while the third dog was “aggressively attacking” him. He asked deputies to shoot the dog, and they did, according to the sheriff’s office.

The family of the boy is now suing their neighbors for the “violent and horrendous attack,” according to an Aug. 25 news release from Hightower, Franklin & James, the law firm representing the family.

Since the attack, the boy had undergone five surgeries and received more than 500 stitches, the firm said, adding that none of the animals had been vaccinated for rabies.

“Sadly, this dog attack was preventable,” the firm said. “(The neighbors) knew that their dogs were unvaccinated and were violent and aggressive.”

They “allowed their dogs out of their residence without a leash or any means of control to roam the neighborhood,” the release read.

The lawsuit is seeking at least $1 million in damages from the neighbors, KETK reported.

Attorneys for the family argue their neighbor’s negligence caused the attack, according to the suit obtained by KFDM.

During their investigation, deputies determined the dogs “had been aggressive in the past,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The owners were “issued three citations, one for each dog involved,” the office said, though an investigation is ongoing and more charges may be brought.

Hemphill is a roughly 170-mile drive northeast from Houston.