JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four dogs that attacked and critically injured a 56-year-old man Friday on the Eastside have been signed over to Animal Care and Protective Services.
City spokesman Jame Croft told News4Jax that the four dogs and three others owned by the same man were signed over to ACPS on Tuesday. All seven were confiscated after the mauling incident on Pacetti Street that sent Charles Washington to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
After the attack, the dogs were found in the front yard of 1121 Pacetti St., according to investigators. The dogs were found contained in a fenced area, but the entry gate leading to the fence was open. Police said on Friday that the dogs escaped from a poorly constructed chain-link fence.
Michelle Nixon said she wasn't surprised when she learned that dogs living at the house on the Eastside had viciously attacked a man. She said that's where her ex-husband lived, with dogs that always made her a little nervous.
"I thought they were very vicious. and I thought that he had too many because he called himself a breeder. When I went to his house, I wouldn't even get out of my truck because I was afraid," Nixon said. "When I pulled up there, they'd go to barking and acting like they were on the attack and so mean and aggressive."
News4Jax is not naming Nixon's ex-husband, who rents the home where the dogs were kept, because there are no charges or citations pending in the investigation.
The dogs are being held at ACPS under a bite quarantine and must be held for at least 10 days for a rabies quarantine, Croft said. He said that a few of the dogs are underweight and have some areas of hair loss, but otherwise they appear healthy.
Nixon said her ex-husband should have handed the dogs over to the city a long time ago.
"He wasn't really keeping that place up like he should as far as cleaning the feces, giving those dogs water and feeding them right, and he wasn't really taking care of them," Nixon said.
It's unknown if the owner will face charges, but a local attorney not connected to the case said that if a dog that has previously been declared dangerous attacks or bites a person or a domestic animal without being provoked, the owner is guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor. It's unclear if that law would apply in this case.
Attorney Obi Umunna, co-founder of Innovative Property Solutions, said the dog owner isn't necessarily the only one responsible.
"In this particular case, what is special is that the owner of the dog is renting a house from someone else," Umunna said. "So the person that got bitten could actually sue the homeowner and also the person who owns the dogs."
Nixon believes that her ex-husband owes something to the man who is now recovering from the vicious attack.
"I think he should be responsible and take care of this man's medical bills," Nixon said.
A source from ACPS told News4Jax that one of the dogs was a pit bull, but the breeds of the other dogs had not been determined. It is unclear what will happen to the dogs responsible for the attack. Croft said those details are under review.