Name: Jim
Victim: Pet
Location: In a hotel elevator, San Marcos, Texas
Year of attack: November 2022

Tell us about the attack

My wife and I recently lost everything because of my health. I had a heart attack, I have kidney disease, I had a stroke, and I was recently diagnosed with “white matter” disease.  We were living on my Social Security in a hotel in San Marcos, Texas. But we had Pete, our Apple Head Chiweenie dog, to keep our spirits up. We’d had him for about 8 years.

I had just gotten back to the hotel after being gone for several hours. So I needed to take Pete out to do his business. We had to take the elevator to go outside. Pete was so excited to get to go outside — he loved being outside. I had Pete on a short leash and when the doors opened, there were two massive pit bulls about six inches from the door waiting to get on the elevator. They immediately attacked Pete with no warning or provocation. One had him by an ear, the other by his hind leg. I tried to help Pete but they would not let go. They tore open his guts and he also had a collapsed lung. He died there in my arms!

How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
I lost my little companion, my buddy, my pal! He loved sitting in my lap in my truck and sticking his head out the window with his big ears flapping in the wind. When I was away from the house or hotel, Pete kept my wife company. My wife is devastated, she lost her baby, her companion! On top of everything else, we just recently had our truck break down so now we have truly lost everything, including our little boy that we both loved so very, very much! We feel empty inside, our heart is completely broken! Pete will live on in our hearts and memories forever!

We’re still in shock and denial that it really happened. We just can’t believe that Pete isn’t here with us anymore. He would always sleep under the covers with us. I would wake up in the middle of the night and feel with my hand to find him. Once I felt his furry little body, it comforted me and I would fall back to sleep. Last night I couldn’t find him, and I cried all night. We now have literally lost everything. But with him gone, I am not sure if we’ll make it. We are just too heart broken. Pit bulls took from us the last thing we had left to keep us going.

Legal Consequences
This happened yesterday, the 17th of November 2022. We have yet to do anything because we are Christians and don’t want to have to break up another family but something has to be done before those pit bulls kill a child or someone else.

The people who owned the pit bulls get to go on living with their dogs as though nothing happened. We don’t.

What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
I’m not sure, I’m too angry and too distraught to even think about what should done. But something has to change before other lives are destroyed. Pete was our child, at least we felt that way about him, but what would happen if someone’s son or daughter had been at that elevator door when it opened? I am thankful that I came across this website for victims of pit bulls. Maybe between us all we can come up with a solution.