Man charged after woman is viciously attacked by pack of dogs
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BLACKFOOT — A Blackfoot man is facing multiple charges after police say his dogs viciously attacked a woman last month.
Troy M. Smith, 47, has been charged with three counts of dog at large, three misdemeanor counts of harboring vicious animals and one misdemeanor count of violation of owner restriction for possessing three or more dogs within the city limits.
The dog attack occurred Sept. 25 around 7:30 p.m. at a home in the area of North University Avenue.
RELATED | Neighbor describes vicious dog attack that severely injured woman
Harmony Jones says she ran out of her house when she heard the 58-year-old woman screaming for the dogs to stop and for someone to call police.
Jones and her husband went to the fenced yard, but did not enter.
She observed three muscular dogs of the same breed on top of the woman and each showed evidence of participating in the attack. She also noticed the woman’s dead dog.
“Her little dog’s body was in the yard and it was pretty tore up,” she said.
Police later determined the victim’s dog was attacked first and killed by the trio of dogs that had come into her yard. The victim went out when she heard the attack on her dog and was then attacked herself.
Witnesses said they believed the dogs, who belonged to a neighbor, were pit pulls or a hybrid breed — and that is what was initially reported to police.
“We called the dogs over to the fence and we were screaming at them so they were no longer on top of her and we called the police,” Jones said.
When officers arrived, they found the victim lying face down in her own backyard. She was severely injured and bleeding from multiple dog bites, including at least one to the face, according to a police news release.
Officers feared for her safety and saw she had already suffered serious harm. To enter the yard and render aid, the officers shot and killed one of the dogs. The other two dogs then ran back to their own yard.
“The dog that got shot was standing between this woman’s body and the fence so the police had no choice but to shoot him to get in there and help this woman,” Jones said.
Officers and EMS were then able to help the woman and she was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for treatment. She has since been released.