Owner stuck with $4,500 vet bill after dogs attack Chihuahuas in Second Ward

HOUSTON – A Houston woman said two dogs attacked her pets while on a walk in their east downtown neighborhood.

The attack happened on March 31. Nearly four months later, Tiffani Neu is left a $4,500 vet bill and no one to take responsibility.

Neu said she was walking her three Chihuahuas on their leashes when two bigger dogs broke through a fenced property at Garrow and Sampson streets. Neu said the property owner allowed the community to use it as a dog park but the two fences didn’t have  locks, which allowed the dogs to break through.

“Now I don’t take any chances,” she said. “I cross the street. I’m hesitant around other dogs.”

Neu said the vet bill for her injured dogs and her urgent care visit were pricey. She was hurt trying to save her three dogs.

“It was expensive,” she said. “Two surgeries for this little knucklehead was $4,500. So you know you’re kinda stuck with that bill.”

Neu said she contacted the owners of the big dogs the following day. When she returned to their house two days after the attack with a vet bill, they were all gone.

“I talked to the landlord. The landlord said they just left her high and dry, too. No rent, no warning. Just left town,” she said.

Neu also tried reaching out to the property owner because she felt he was liable. Neu said he has not responded to her calls or certified letters. So she is stuck with a big bill.

“The good news is I have all three dogs,” she said. “And all three dogs are fine and they’re gonna recover and you know that’s the most important thing. I got all my babies and I think they’re gonna be OK.”

The fenced property now has padlocks on the gates.