Four dogs attacked and killed a cat after they were spotted roaming together near Minor Avenue in San Jose, prompting animal services officers to track them down, capture them, and haul them off to the city shelter for care. The dogs' caretakers, meanwhile, were taken into custody by San Jose police during the response, though for reasons unrelated to the animal investigation itself.
The city's Animal Care Center detailed the incident in a Facebook post, saying its field unit requested help from the San Jose Police Department to coordinate a response near a nearby encampment after the four dogs were seen together close to Minor Avenue. Officers ultimately located six additional dogs at the encampment, but determined those animals were not involved in the attack that killed the cat. Only the original four dogs were captured and transported to the shelter for care, according to the post.
Police Custody Unrelated to the Animal Case
San Jose police took the dogs' caretakers into custody during the response, but city officials say that arrest stemmed from matters unrelated to the shelter's investigation into the attack. Animal Care and Services is now asking the public for help identifying and locating anyone connected to the dogs involved in the Minor Avenue incident, according to the same Facebook post.
The city's Animal Care Center, which also serves Cupertino, Milpitas, and Saratoga, said its officers respond to animal-related public safety concerns and routinely partner with other agencies while working throughout San Jose and its contracting cities. The center is located at 2750 Monterey Road in San Jose and can be reached through Animal Care and Services dispatch at 408-794-7297.
A Separate, Earlier Attack Still Unsolved
The Minor Avenue case follows a separate dog attack in San Jose in which a resident, Chris Fowler, said his nine-year-old cat, Tootie Pootie, was mauled outside his home. According to ABC7 News, Fowler's cat succumbed to her injuries later that same day. Surveillance video from that incident shows a girl getting pulled by her dog as it lunged after Fowler's cat, and the owners seen in the footage left the scene after the attack.
San Jose Animal Services Deputy Director Jay Terrado said the agency's priority in that case was finding who owns the dog and determining whether it has a history, telling the outlet what matters is finding who the owner is and finding out if the dog has a history. It remains unclear whether that earlier case is connected to the Minor Avenue attack, and the shelter's post does not draw that link.
Shelter Says It's Over Capacity for Dogs
The Animal Care Center said in its post that the shelter is well over capacity for dogs, a strain that comes as officers continue processing the four dogs captured near Minor Avenue. To help move dogs into homes, the shelter is running a Name Your Price promotion on large-breed dogs and puppies through September 22.
Dog attacks on cats and other animals have surfaced elsewhere in Northern California in recent months. In Woodland, a 14-year-old rescue dog named Petey died in March after being mauled by a loose dog at Campbell Park, according to CBS News Sacramento, which reported Petey was rushed to the vet before dying from severe injuries to his neck and torso. A pack of aggressive dogs was also captured in Merced County last September in a case involving killed cats, per ABC7 News, and a significant number of dogs were reported missing from a Northern California animal sanctuary in June, according to KRON4.
