Around 4:45 a.m., on Monday May 2, 2016, Dallas Police officers responded to calls from residents who said a woman was screaming for help because she was being attacked, apparently by dogs. Police found a woman in the 3300 block of Rutledge with life-threatening injuries, but found no dogs onsite. Dallas Fire-Rescue transported the victim to an area hospital for treatment.

The next day, the 311 non-emergency call center received a call regarding loose dogs. The caller said that the loose dogs had attacked a woman the night before. The caller told the 311 operator that an officer asked residents in the area to call 311 if they saw loose dogs. Dallas Animal Services (DAS) officers responded with patrols in the area for the next two days. On Friday, May 6th, with the assistance of the Dallas Police Department, animal services officers took into custody six dogs from a nearby home after neighbors identified the owner of the loose dogs.

DAS will increase monitoring and education efforts in this area in light of the recent attack and is working closely with DPD to determine if the dogs in custody attacked the victim Monday morning. DAS and DPD are also working to change procedures so that once DPD is aware of a dog attack victim, there is a more immediate notification to DAS.

DPD is investigating the incident and will release additional information when it becomes available.