An East Texas man was killed by two pit bulls outside this Beaumont home.
Man Killed by Dogs
Beaumont, TX - A man is dead after being mauled by two pit bulls on Monday. Just before 11:00 am, Beaumont police were dispatched to a residence in the 1400 block of Orange Avenue regarding a welfare check for a man who was bleeding after a vicious dog attack. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died, police said. The dogs involved were two pit bulls, according to police. Both dogs were captured after being tranquilized, according to Viviana Lopez of Beaumont Animal Care.
KBTV-TV captured images of the dogs inside the Beaumont Animal Care facility. One is clearly a female. The gender of the other dog is not known. The name of the victim is currently being withheld until next of kin have been notified. The age of the victim has not been released. It is not known if the dogs belonged to the man. Detectives and animal control officers are actively investigating the man's death. Butterflies and wind chimes were seen hanging from the front porch of the residence.
KBMT went to the scene and captured images of police detectives and animal control officers taking photographs in the backyard of the home. The tranquilizer gun was also seen being held by an officer in the backyard of the home. Life-size pop up Christmas statues of Santa and Snowman were seen in the front yard of the home. A neighbor told the media outlet, "the dogs are always on loose" in the neighborhood. It's not know if the pair of pit bulls have a history of previous bites or aggression.
Mauling Victim Identified
On Tuesday, the victim was identified as 78-year old Hector Pierna, who lived on Orange Avenue. When police arrived at the scene, they found Pierna suffering from dog bites. He was transported to CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth Hospital where he died. Two pit bulls were responsible for the attack. Police located one of the dogs hiding underneath a home -- that dog was tranquilized. The second pit bull was also found and also tranquilized. Both were taken into custody by Beaumont Animal Care.
A message from Officer Carol Hettinger with Beaumont Animal Care indicates the pit bulls were running loose and did not belong to the victim. "Please, immediately call the minute you see something running loose, so that we can try to take care of stuff before these kinds of things happen," Hettinger said. "It's an unfortunate incident and I just wish we could've taken care of it, prevented it from happening before it happened." No information about the suspected dog owner was released.
The captured pit bulls seen at the Beaumont Animal Care facility after the fatal dog mauling.
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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.
Just another day in MaulMerica. I hope he was the owner and not an innocent neighbor.
I wonder if he’s the owner or should I said “dog dad” of the pitbulls.hopefully he’s the owner. Anyway for the life of me I don’t understand why people boy or girl .wants a dog breed that literally can kill you.when they hear the countless story of pitbull killing off owner babies adults elderly toddlers .Im not a dog person there no way I’m getting a pitbull that will kill me one day.
A neighbor told the media outlet, “the dogs are always on loose” in the neighborhood.
It’s not clear if he was a neighbor or the owner. Spotty reporting as usual. Let’s hope it was the owner/volunteer.
It’s not clear whether these were owned dogs or strays.
They could have been dumped by a prior owner and neighbors feeding them.