CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's a concern Corpus Christi residents have come to know all too well, loose and at times even aggressive dogs roaming their neighborhoods.
On Monday, resident Scott Chapman said he was forced to use his firearm to stop an attack.
Chapman says he was walking down Beechwood Street when he saw two dogs that were out. He said he went to snap a picture of them to post in his neighborhood page in case they were lost.
That's when both dogs began to attack him, one getting a bite on his right leg.
"As soon as the dog hit me I knew they weren't going to stop," he said.
Chapman who has a concealed carry license and was armed, pulled his gun and fired it, scaring the dogs off.
"I got a license to carry so I always carry," Chapman said. "I don't carry for the purpose of dogs, I carry for the purpose of safety. Today it worked for safety."
Although no dogs were injured and Chapman's injuries weren't severe, the situation could have been worse. He called 911 to report the incident to Animal Control Services who responded to the address three hours later.
"We try to get to each call in around a couple hours or so, but the difficulty comes with the amount of manpower we have and the number of calls, and noncompliance we have across the city," Animal Care Services Interim Program Manager Miguel Escobar said.
Escobar says their response time is also based off urgency for instance, an attack in progress.
"The only thing that I can say is we are currently investigating it and from our department we do take rabies matters extremely high," he said. "It's one of the main purposes of animal care and control"
Escobar said he knows a lot of citizens in this situation might feel like there is no recourse but there is—and it all starts the affidavit.
The affidavit looks for a sworn statement from the victim and any witnesses. Once Animal Care Services has this they can start investigating into the dangerous or aggressive animal process.
There are two categories: 'Type 1', 'Type 2' and then a 'danger to humans.'
This process also allows Animal Care Services to give dog owners more than just a citation.
If your animal is deemed dangerous it comes with special keeping instructions, signage, registration costs as well as carrying liability insurance.