Action News Jax Investigates finds an increase in aggressive dog attacks

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax Investigates found an increase in aggressive dog attacks in Northeast Florida.

We featured a few on our newscasts. A dog bit a Jacksonville woman while she was walking home in March 2021; three dogs attacked a horse in Putnam County this year; and a pack of stray dogs killed a cat in Southside Estates last year.

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And just last month, two dogs were caught on camera ripping apart a car trying to get a cat that ran underneath it. Christie Barr is the owner of the car.

“No two animals should be able to tear that car apart,” Barr said.

Now, she is too scared to walk outside.

“I don’t want to, you know, just walk outside and be surprised,” she said.

RELATED: Putnam County woman says horse attacked, seriously hurt by loose dogs in neighborhood

INCREASE IN ATTACKS

Action News Jax Investigates pulled public records and found there were 1,162 bites ranging in severity reported to Animal Control so far this year. Animal Control has reported about 830 bite calls in Duval County, about 150 in Clay, about 140 in St. Johns, and 40 bite calls in Putnam.

Each of the respective sheriff’s offices also gets bite calls. We are not reporting them because they may include calls that were also made to animal control.

According to the Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services, the top three zip codes with bite calls so far this year are 32209 with 94 calls, 32218 with 79, and 32210 with 71.

RELATED: Surveillance video shows pack of dogs terrorize southside neighborhood, kill several cats

“We get three bite calls every day, on average,” ACPS Division Chief Michael Bricker said. Bricker said dog bites fluctuate across certain areas of Jacksonville, but the calls are typically seasonal.

“The warmer it gets, the more bites we get,” Bricker said. “Generally, bites happen in places where you just have a lot of people out moving, doing things. So, we’ll see bites at like, parks, dog parks, pet stores, all those things.”

And male dogs tend to be more aggressive.

“A very high percentage of bite cases are male dogs,” Bricker said. “Male dogs that are intact, that haven’t been fixed, because those are the dogs that are leaving the property to roam to find a female dog.”

RELATED: ‘Worst thing I’ve ever seen’: Jacksonville neighbors ask why animal control didn’t impound dog after gruesome attack

Bricker said even at capacity, they would take a dangerous dog.

“Space doesn’t matter,” he said. “At that point, we’ll make space. We’ll figure it out because that’s a danger to the community.”

In Putnam County, Animal Control data shows Interlachen, Palatka and Crescent City have the most animal calls in general.

Over the past three years in Interlachen – the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office responded to dog attack calls at these locations (see graphic below).

DEADLY ATTACK

Two years ago, a pack of dogs brutally attacked and killed Pam Rock. She was delivering mail in an Interlachen neighborhood.

Action News Jax obtained the 911 calls, where you can hear someone saying, “Dog attack.” “She is down and getting tore up … ” “Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.”

“I couldn’t believe it, just absolute shock,” Pam Rock’s older brother Tom Rock said. “And it’s still to this day, every time I see a mail truck, I think about Pammy delivering mail in her truck.”

Her brother is speaking out to us about his sister’s death. “I had no idea that there were five, and they were absolutely ferocious,” Tom Rock said.

In the 911 call, you could hear someone saying, “This is the second time these dogs have attacked …” “I’m afraid she’s not going to make it.”

RELATED: Mail carrier dies after being attacked by 5 dogs in Interlachen, deputies say

Pam Rock died the next day in the hospital.

Her death is part of an increase in the number of people who have died from dog bites across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there was a 174% increase from 2018 to 2022.

Tom Rock believes it is time to change that statistic. He said his sister’s death was preventable.

No one was charged in Pam Rock’s death. The State Attorney’s Office determined the dogs’ owner was not at fault since he tried to surrender the dogs to Animal Control – twice.

RELATED: PCSO: No charges in case of mail carrier mauled by 5 dogs

Action News Jax’s Annette Gutierrez: “Who do you think should be held accountable?”

Tom Rock: “I think the leadership in the county is absolutely accountable.”

The initial incident report states Animal Control said they couldn’t take them in because “… they were at capacity,” and they are a no-kill shelter.

The dogs were also reportedly never categorized as dangerous even though they fit the definition by committing previous attacks.

RELATED: Report shows Putnam County man’s dogs killed woman after two surrender requests denied

DANGEROUS DOG REGISTRY

Now, Tom Rock is calling for changes in the state law.

He wants a mandatory dangerous dog registry, to accelerate the category of dangerous dog from several incidents to just one, to add microchips for identification, to have $100,000 liability insurance coverage, and for shelters to be required to disclose a dog’s bite history.

“We’re not a threat to anybody’s dog, just those that are dangerous,” Tom Rock said. “And dangerous is defined, by what they do, not what breed, not what they look like.”

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State Representative Bobby Payne sponsored the Dangerous Dog Bill in this year’s legislative session. It died in committee and never made it to the floor this year.

But his goal is the same -- to keep another person from dying.

“Look, there’s certain dogs out there that are dangerous like these that should be quarantined or taken in and evaluated and perhaps euthanized,” Payne said.

He plans to submit the bill again next session.

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“It’s unfortunate it took two or three examples of these dogs previously attacking before this happened before someone lost a life,” Payne said.

The current law states if your dog has been classified as dangerous and bites someone, you could face misdemeanor charges. And, if it’s serious or deadly, you could face a third-degree felony charge.

If your dog is not classified as dangerous and hurts someone, you would only face misdemeanor charges.

Tom Rock has some advice to dog owners: “Make sure that you keep control of your pets, so you don’t become a dangerous dog statistic.”

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