DALLAS (AP) - Dallas city leaders expressed outrage in the month after a homeless Army veteran was killed by roaming dogs, bitten more than 100 times as the animals tore one of her arms to the bone and ripped away most of her thigh.
They promised to respond to Antoinette Brown's death by cracking down on loose dogs found regularly in the city's poorer neighborhoods. They ramped up arrests of dog owners, hired a consultant and are reviewing several proposals, including requiring an insurance policy for "dangerous breeds."
The issue of loose dogs has long plagued low-income neighborhoods in some of America's largest cities as leaders allocate more funding and attention on broader concerns such as crime, housing and sprawl. While Brown's death shows how one incident can prompt a city to take action, animal-welfare groups say fixing the problem in Dallas and elsewhere requires long-term investments that many cities have not made.
"Our field is starting to recognize that we cannot accomplish what we seek to accomplish, which is safe, humane communities, if all we do is respond to crises after they occur and approach the situation with a punitive mindset," said Cory Smith, a public policy analyst for The Humane Society of the United States.
The 52-year-old Brown was attacked by three pit bulls in the early hours of May 2 in a neighborhood of single-story, aging homes, some left vacant. A City Council report on the attack noted that much of a thigh was missing. Brown died in a hospital days later.
The loose dogs had run free before the mauling and in the days after. Their owners have had dogs seized in the past. Police have said they could face charges, but none had been filed by Tuesday as a criminal investigation continues.
"It happened because this is south Dallas and this is the poorest part of the city and they don't care," neighbor Netra Reese told the Dallas Morning News. "Now they're talking about it. It takes someone to lose their life for them to come out and do something."
Brown's death led the city to increase enforcement: Authorities since early May have arrested at least 40 people on some 160 animal-related warrants.