Two men who were attacked by two pit bulls in far east El Paso Sunday said they are upset that it took almost an hour for police to respond to their call for help.
“It’s just upsetting that it took that long after so many calls," said Joseph Sepulveda, who was attacked by a dog on Tierra Limon Drive.
Sepulveda said he was picking up a package from his parent's house when he was approached by a dog.
“At first it didn’t seem aggressive. It seemed excited," said Sepulveda.
Surveillance video showed Sepulveda looking at the dog as he and his girlfriend were making their way into his parent's home. You can see the dog rushing toward him and Sepulveda fighting him off.
“I told my girlfriend to put the code to the door I was telling her 'code, code, code'. At that point, it was already too late. the dog got my hand a couple of times. Thankfully, that package was there to protect me even more," said Sepulveda.
Before Sepulveda was attacked, one of the dogs bit a 24-year-old man on his forearm and leg while he was loading a car onto a trailer down the street.
The man's father said his neighbor's dog jumped over his fence and started chasing his son.
The dog tore down the fence and jumped over and went after my son. My son ran across the street to a car before he got there that’s where it bit his leg and his arm. At that point, he jumped up on the front of the car to get away from the dog. And then, the dog went across the street to its home. Side of the home. And then my son attempted to get off the car and then come back to the house. And as he started to walk the dog came across the street again after him. And he ran to the next-door neighbor's and jump in the back of his pickup. At that point, the dog went back across the street," said Timothy Shallenbugo.
Shallenbugo said that his son was taken to the hospital to get treated.
"He went to the emergency room and stuff and treated him there and the fire department treated him before he went over there," he added.
Shallenbugo said his daughter called animal services and 911 when the first attack happened.
But the police did not get there until almost an hour later.
An El Paso Police Department Spokesperson said they didn’t have any units available.
“When the police got here, we asked them how come it took so long. We were told it was shift change," Shallenbugo said. “That’s not acceptable.”
KFOX14 reached out to the police Monday and asked them why it took them almost an hour to respond.
We also asked how the department decides which calls are a priority. They did not respond.
“If that was their child or their family member, what would they want done? Would they accept an hour and a half for animal services? Would they accept an hour for the police department to show up?" Shallenbugo added.
During the almost hour they were waiting for police, both Sepulveda and Shallenbugo say were alerting the community of the vicious dogs.
“We were able to keep people safe as much as we could. My dad, mom, brother they were driving around keeping kids inside," said Sepulveda.
When police arrived, an officer ended up shooting the dog. Police said it was being aggressive towards people.
“The dog started to lurch at him. He did everything he was supposed to do," said Sepulveda.
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