NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Northwest Miami-Dade pet owner is demanding action following what she described as a vicious attack by two dogs that took the lives of her three cats and left her with a hand injury, weeks after another resident said the same dogs mauled two of her cats.
The residents of Palm Springs North said a Yorkie-Chihuahua mix and a Labrador mix are terrorizing their neighborhood.
But despite the attacks, residents said, Miami-Dade Animal Services hasn’t done anything to prevent these dogs from striking again.
Jennifer Kirby said she saw the 7News story that aired Oct. 8 about two separate incidents that left resident Jessica Hayes’ cats dead.
Hayes said the first attack happened back on July 9, and the second attack happened nearly three months later.
When she saw surveillance video of the attacks, Kirby said, it was all too familiar.
“As soon as I saw the footage, I said, ‘Those are the dogs,’ and I was pointing,” she said.
Kirby said the same black Labrador mix attacked her and killed three of her cats within a week.
“It was in my driveway to enter my house. I just got a big dog come up to me, and it attacked me,” she said. “I don’t remember how long the dog had its mouth on me. I just remember that my parents had to rush out and grab me because blood was gushing out, and I was in shock, so the rest of the night was all a blur.”
The same day as her attack, Kirby said, she found out her cat had been killed.
“My mom had called and said one of my cats, the oldest cat that I’ve had, was just mauled by the dog, and it was right in front of my mother. Same dog,” she said.
A few days later, another cat was taken. She lost a third cat a week after that.
Kirby said they contacted the police.
“The woman officer did not want to look for the dog because she was afraid she would get bit, so she stayed with my mother,” she said, “and it was kind of upsetting, because she is law enforcement, and they have a weapon, and it’s causing terror for my whole neighborhood now, and I just wanted to get these animals caught before anybody else got seriously injured.”
Kirby said she has to undergo surgery on her hand because the dog’s teeth nicked a tendon.
“I don’t have full mobility of the thumb,” she said.
The animal attacks have left neighbors on high alert. Children have largely stopped playing outside, all because of two dogs on the loose.
“I would like for the owners of these animals to realize that their animals are causing a lot of pain and suffering to people, children and also animals, and I want them to be held responsible and accountable for what they have done,” said Kirby.
Days after this story aired, a spokesperson for MDAS issued a statement that reads, “Miami-Dade County Animal Services currently has open and active investigations into these incidents. Animal Services’ investigators issued the dog owner a total of five citations in response to the incidents thus far. The designation of dangerous dog is pending Animal Services receipt of proper supporting documentation and reported evidence related to these incidents from the eyewitnesses.”
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