AUSTIN, Texas – An Austin resident is warning neighbors about a problem he says is life-threatening. He said a dog attacked him and his two dogs Southeast Austin.

“It was absolutely one of the scariest moments of my entire life,” Lucas Cook said.

Last Tuesday, Lucas Cook was heading out the door to take his two chihuahuas for a walk in the Colorado Crossing subdivision in southeast Austin.

“I went up the road, looked over and saw a stray dog ​​walking on the sidewalk. The dog immediately saw me and started charging,” Cook said.

Cook said as he tried to pick up his dogs, “It was just a matter of how do I stop this and save my dogs? What can i do?” Cook said.

The dog then attacked and knocked him down.

“How can you know what to do or expect when an angry dog ​​comes after you and knocks you down?” Cook said. “The dog had my dog, Neumann’s head all over his mouth at one point.”

The fight continued until Cook’s wife came outside and pulled the dog off Cook and the Chihuahua. They ran inside, then Cook rushed the chihuahua to the emergency surgery center.

“They both had major neck and head injuries,” Cook said. “Very high damage, seconds away from both dogs being killed.”

Cook said it was something he couldn’t have imagined.

“They mean everything to us. They are our little friends and our first babies,” Cook said.

Cook said he is now determined to find out who owns the dog, assuming it is not a stray.

“Not just to give my wife and my dog ​​some closure and hopefully some justice here for what happened, but also the people in the neighborhood who are scared to death,” Cook said.

Cook said this is not the first time a dog attack has occurred in this neighborhood.

“There were two in June and both people grabbed me and said, I’m pretty sure this is the dog because this particular dog isn’t interested in people, MO attacks other dogs and people get involved. when they’re protecting their dogs,” Cook said.

The owners association management company emailed residents in the neighborhood warning them of this danger and making them aware of community bylaws and local ordinances that require dogs to be on a leash at all times when outside and under direct control of their owner.

The Austin Police Department released a statement regarding the incident:

“After reviewing the case, no animal cruelty was found, therefore this is a civil matter. The victims were advised to contact Animal Control to pursue a civil case and the report was forwarded to Animal Control. For detectives to move forward with an investigation, all four elements below must be met.

HSC 822.005 Dog attack
This case does not meet the elements for criminal charges under HSC 822.005 Attack by dog. The following elements must be met:

– the owner fails to insure the dog
–must be an unprovoked attack on another person
–must appear at a location other than the dog owner’s residence
–must cause serious bodily injury (defined by PC 1.07) or death”

Cook said she doesn’t plan to walk her dogs for a while.