PAPILLION, Neb. (WOWT) – What Crystal Alley saw out the window of her Papillion home was made even more horrifying by what she heard.
“He was screaming and trying to fight them off,” Crystal said. “He was in the middle of the street and the dogs were coming at him from each way and he was trying to fight them off with his mailbag. But when fighting one off, another jumped on him and got him to the ground.”
Three dogs had gotten out of the high-fenced backyard across the street. The Nebraska Humane Society described them as American bulldogs.
“One of our letter carriers was attacked by three large dogs and required medical treatment,” said Mark Inglett with the Postal Service. “He’s at home now, but still has injuries we’re dealing with.”
A woman who owns the three dogs pulled them off and the mail carrier stumbled into Crystal’s kitchen.
“He sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor,” Crystal said. “I was on the phone with 911 and I grabbed a towel and blood was pouring from his face.”
Paramedics soon arrived and Crystal told them she could see three separate injuries.
“One cut above his eye and blood from the top of his head, but the main one was from the back of his head,” Crystal said.
The Nebraska Humane Society took two of the bulldogs in for a 10-day quarantine because there’s no proof of vaccination. The third is too young for shots.
NHS says the owners, Adam and Heidi Ludwick, have been cited for lack of restraint due to a loose gate and no vaccination records because the pets are unlicensed.
“Restraint and lack of records, more or less infraction type of penalties,” said Steven Glandt with NHS.
Glandt says all three bulldogs have been designated as potentially dangerous dogs.
“It’s concerning that these three dogs attacked a person, knocked them to the ground and [started] biting him on the ground, defenseless,” Glandt said.
The owners are appealing. 6 News knocked on their door for comment and they claim it was an accident.
Crystal says the sight of a bleeding letter carrier in her kitchen isn’t all she’ll remember. After the severely-bitten postal carrier had been taken away by rescue squad, she says she found mail scattered in the street and in her yard, a small container of dog repellent.
Crystal claims it’s not the first attack by the neighbor’s dogs. She alleges 10 months ago her pet suffered numerous puncture wounds caused by two dogs that got out of a fence gate. She’s unsure if the same ones attacked the mailman. NHS took a report, but Crystal didn’t press charges against the dog owners.
“They paid the vet bill,” Crystal said. “About $3,500.”
Now she hopes steps are being taken to prevent another dog attack like she witness with the mail carrier since there’s an elementary school just a block away.
“If it had been three hours later, it would have been a child walking by,” Crystal said.
The two dogs in quarantine won’t be released back to the owners until deemed healthy and cleared by a veterinarian. The investigation is ongoing to determine if more serious charges are warranted.
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