Dog Attack: Who Was At Fault?

On April 11th, a stray dog attacked a group of 7th graders on campus and local news outlets quickly reported the situation. No one knows exactly what happened besides the people who witnessed it and those attacked, but as the students and witnesses were re-interviewed, many inconsistencies were noted.

Seventh grader Roosevelt Padilla reported to abc13 that he was “just walking around” and the dog happened to cross his path but witness, Andrea Gutierrez, revealed that the dog was “kicked” and that students “circulated around the ditch and got closer to the dog,” provoking the animal. In another instance of inconsistency, all students attacked had a similar response when asked “How did the dog come to attack you?” All replied, “I don't know, I blacked out.” Blacking out is a common response in a situation like this one but not common enough to occur across all victims, generating suspicion.

It is unclear whether the dog was provoked or not but what is clear, is that most were brisk to assume that the dog was on a vicious rampage, dismissing the possibility of the students’ culpability in the scenario.

Ultimately, someone had to take responsibility. The school issued a response that same afternoon that read:

Maintaining a safe and welcoming learning environment is a top priority of YES Prep. Today, unfortunately, some of our middle school students were bitten by a stray dog during their outdoor recess at approximately 12:20 pm at our Southeast campus. Thankfully, our staff acted swiftly to contain the dog and take students to safety. Emergency personnel were immediately contacted and reported to the campus to treat injured students awaiting the arrival of their parents. No students have been transported to the hospital and all have gone home with their parents. Control has removed the dog from the premises and the Houston Police Department is investigating the matter. We will work with all authorities to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future and wish our students a speedy recovery.

Houston is commonly known as a place with an alarming amount of stray dogs and it is crucial that YES Prep works on a solution to permit another precious dog from getting euthanized and of course, to prevent another innocent student from getting viciously attacked.