Police suspect that a man found dead Friday in Channelview was killed by dogs.
Man Found Dead
Channelview, TX - A man found dead near his bicycle early Friday morning is believed to have been killed by dogs. Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) investigators said the body was found at about 1:00 am in the 15700 block of Garlang Street near Sheldon Road in Channelview, an unincorporated area in Harris County. Investigators said the man had multiple dog bite wounds on his body. The man was described as Hispanic and between the ages of 30 and 40-years old.
An autopsy will be conducted by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. There were no witnesses to the attack, police said. Detectives are asking area residents to review their surveillance cameras for evidence of the attack. Dogs are known to roam the area. "This area is known for having lots of dogs. I haven't seen any recent reports, but it is known to have stray dogs in the area," HCSO Homicide Detective Wallace Wyatt said during a press conference Friday.
KHOU spoke to neighbors who said they believe they know where the dogs came from. There have been multiple close calls with pit bulls coming from one house that is close to the attack site. Jerry Davila said the same pit bulls have come over to his restaurant. "They go look for food around our dumpster and we chase ‘em off. Now, they’re getting to where they attacked him. They’ve never attacked anybody. Now they have," said Davila, owner of El Tejano Restaurant.
Back in June, Nicolas Vasquez, 51, died after being attacked by three pit bull-mixes in Huffman, also an unincorporated community in Harris County. In 2020, Veterinary World published a study of risk factors for dog bites in unincorporated Harris County. Channelview and Huffman were in the top ten highest incident rates for dog bites. County-wide, pit bulls had the greatest frequency of bites (25.07%), and the greatest frequency of severe injuries (49.57%), the study found.
Also, "a strong correlation between dog bite incidences and stray dogs was found after controlling for the human population and income," states the study. The "stray dog admissions" map by zip code shows that Channelview was in the highest level of stray admission (the darkest purple). In the study, any dog without an owner ID on its bite case record was considered to be stray. Overall, stray dogs had a significantly fewer percentage of severe injury bites than non-stray dogs.
Both Channelview and Huffman were in the top ten highest dog bite incidence rates.
A look at the incidence and risk factors for dog bites in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, USA, Hasoon BC, Shipp AE and Hasoon J, Veterinary World, 2020 Mar; 13(3): 419–425
Related articles:
07/22/22: 2022 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Pack of Pit Bull-Mixes in Fort Bend County, Texas
06/28/22: 2022 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Dies After Dog Attack in Unincorporated Harris County
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
I guess it’s no longer safe to ride a bicycle. Walking is also very dangerous. How does this make sense?
I have bicycled all over these United States, and let me tell you: Loose dogs are the bane of my existence. I’m also not very fond of the ones that, ahem, serenade me as I go pedaling by.
The area was widely known for having stray dogs yet no one did anything about it. I wonder how many people will die before they get rid of the dogs.
Great reporting, highlighted by the citation to the study on dog bites in Harris County.
Please identify the man who was killed by dogs and Channelview my son is homeless and I can’t find him! He speaks fluent Spanish and it’s dirty a lot so he may look Hispanic and he’s not
Kelley, from a link in this blog article:
“Authorities urge you to call HCSO Homicide at 713-274-9100 if you have any information in this case.”
I hope your contact w this Sheriff’s Office gives you good news.
I hate to say this but it’s prob a situation in which the cops are going to make zero effort to find out victim’s identity infact any help or tips from public will likely be swept under a rug or ignored (sorry to say)
I assume however that I some1 does contact police that some sort of identification process I’ll be made to deny or confirm for any next of kins-i hope this Kelley Rae finds out it wasn’t son