Pit bull kills family pet

The Colony resident Terrie Gregory returned from work to her home on Norris Drive about 5:30 p.m. on March 12, just like any other day. The first thing she did was let her two Pomeranians out the back door into the yard.

But not long after that she heard the smaller, younger of the two dogs barking more than normal, said her husband, Ron Gregory.

"She went to the back door to get him to stop barking," Ron said. "She looked out, and it took her a second to realize that there was a dog back there that wasn't one of ours. She realized it had something in its mouth, and then she realized it was Elvis, our dog. Not even thinking, she just ran out into the back yard."

The stranger dog, later identified as a pit-bull mix residing at their next-door neighbor's house, dropped Elvis and started scrambling over the Gregorys' 6-foot fence into the alley, Ron said.

But the damage was done. Terrie rushed Elvis to The Colony Animal Clinic on Paige Road but there was nothing the veterinarians could do to save him.

Ron, who is a firefighter/EMT with the Plano Fire Department, was on duty at the time of the incident.

"[Terrie] called me at work. I couldn't understand her. She was screaming," Ron said. "I met her at the veterinarian's office ... where she was sitting in Dr. [Sharon] Wild's office, crying. Her hands, sweater, and pants were soaked in blood."

The Gregorys called The Colony Animal Control Center from the veterinarian's office to inform them what had happened. Ron said Animal Control already had officers in the area because they'd received a report of a loose pit bull.

"When we got back to the house we went looking around. There's a lot of small kids in this neighborhood," Ron said.

Animal Control Manager Patricia Barrington said her office received the initial call reporting the incident about 7:20 p.m., and that officers had been dispatched to the scene in less than 20 minutes.

When officers located the offending animal, it was already back in its enclosure next door to the Gregorys' home, Barrington said. The dog's owner cooperated with Animal Control and turned the dog over to the officers, who took it to their facility to be euthanized.

"Fortunately they were cooperative. Sometimes it can be drawn out and have different results," Barrington said.

Incidents like this happen a few times a year, she said, and have involved a variety of breeds, including Rotweillers, Labradors, Border Collies, Golden Retrievers, and Pit Bulls.

"But we don't generally have situations like this," Barrington said, where an animal breaches a board-on-board privacy fence with no visible flaws in the structure.

"If you have dogs next door that could be a threat, call us and we'll gather an assessment," she said. "There may or may not be any action we can take."

But for the Gregorys, the call came too late and at the cost of a family pet.

"More than what happened to our dog, it's about what could've happened to my wife," Ron said. "If that dog had turned on her, she could've been laying there for hours."

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