The latest weird and wild news from Oklahoma that achieved national headlines is the tragic story of an Ardmore woman killed in an attack from seven short-legged dachshund-mix dogs.
Tracy Garcia, 52, died May 10 after her neighbor’s dogs mauled her outside her home, according to KXII.
The story appeared on both the Yahoo! and Time websites with headlines featuring the phrase “pack of dachshund dogs,” for brevity’s sake, but six of the dogs — all of which were about one year old — were believed to be a dachshund and terrier mix. An older dog, believed to be the pack’s mother, was a three-year-old border collie mix.
The incident gained national attention because of the small stature of the dogs, but that’s no excuse to misrepresent the facts, mainstream media.
One dog was shot at the scene after it charged at a police officer responding to an attack, while the six others were euthanized by a local veterinarian. A veterinarian technician told KXII that a rabies test would not be performed on the dogs because it would be a waste of thousands of dollars since they can’t attack another victim.
The technician said that the dogs were covered in fleas and ticks, indicating that they spent a lot of time outside and possibly lived in the woods. KTEN reports that the district attorney’s office will review autopsy reports before determining whether to file charges against the dogs’ owner.
“This is a bad situation, a very unfortunate situation,” Carter County sheriff Chris Bryant told KTEN. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victims. This is just a bad deal all the way around.”
