An adult was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries Tuesday afternoon after an animal attack on Finwood Avenue in Jacksonville's Normandy Manor area, on the city's Westside. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office responded to the reported animal bite, but investigators have not said what kind of animal was involved.
According to News4JAX, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue confirmed that one adult was taken to the hospital in critical condition following the attack. The outlet reported that JSO did not specify the type of animal involved, leaving a key detail of the incident unconfirmed as of Tuesday afternoon. A News4JAX crew was sent to the scene to gather additional information.
No further details have been released about the circumstances of the attack, including whether the animal was captured or what led up to the bite.
A Westside Neighborhood With a History of Serious Dog Attacks
Tuesday's incident adds to a troubling pattern of severe animal attacks on Jacksonville's Westside in recent years. In 2024, officers responding to a call about a dead person on Ricker Road instead found 59-year-old Ronald Coffman suffering from multiple dog bites, the same News4JAX report noted. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue said Coffman died from his injuries, and a 62-year-old Jacksonville man, Melvyn Souffrount, was later accused of manslaughter for his role in the fatal attack.
Another Westside case drew attention after a dog attack near Marquis Drive left a 4-year-old boy with a severe ear injury while he waited for the school bus with his mother, Tracy Moore. “Two of them cut my ear off,” the boy, identified as Roland, told First Coast News. A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office incident report described the ear injury as non-life-threatening, and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue transported the boy to Wolfson Children's Hospital.
Bite Calls Have Climbed Across the City
The pattern of attacks comes amid what Action News Jax has described as a rise in aggressive dog incidents citywide. The outlet reported that, according to Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services data cited at the time, ZIP codes 32209, 32218 and 32210 led the city in bite calls for that year.
Tuesday's attack remains under investigation, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has not released the animal's type, the victim's identity, or whether any enforcement action has followed. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
