HUMBLE, Texas — The owners of English bulldogs in the Humble area are heartbroken after they said three of their dogs were killed by a neighbor's German shepherd that had broken through their fence.
They want something to be done to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"The fence was broken. It’s not the first time that our neighbor’s dog came into our backyard," Roger dos Santos said.
For the last two years, Beethoven, Katrina, Harvey and Bona have called the backyard home.
Beethoven is the only one that's left.
"You see your dog that loves you so much and you love him, they are a part of our family," dos Santos said.
On Monday, dos Santos said he came home and found the lifeless bodies of three of his dogs on the ground. Bona and Harvey were dead and Katrina was clinging to life. She later died.
"And you see the dog dead, sleeping forever, never going to play again with me," dos Santos said.
He said his neighbor's German shepherd broke through the fence and killed his dogs.
"He was able to kill three of our dogs," dos Santos said. "He broke through on the other side. It's a dog that can kill three English bulldogs. It can not be a nice dog."
Dos Santos said he called the police, but they said there was nothing they can do.
Katrina's owner, Eddie Duarte, said police told him that they wouldn't do a police report because there were only dogs involved, no human beings. They told him they could only do something if he attacked someone. BARC officials said the state of Texas considers pets to be property, so a dog-on-dog attack is a civil matter. Both Duarte and dos Santos don't agree.
"Dogs are not property. It's family," dos Santos said. "If you have a dangerous dog, you have to be responsible. You have to keep this dog inside your home or you have to have better fences."
The owners can try to get a dangerous dog declaration for the German shepherd, but in Harris County, that's for a justice of the peace to decide.
KHOU 11 News tried to get the German shepherd's owners to explain, but they did not respond.
On top of the dangerous dog declaration, Duarte and dos Santos are also pursuing civil action.