TEXAS CITY — A woman whose four pit bulls attacked and killed a family’s 10-year-old beagle in October is now suing the deceased dog’s owner for up to $1 million in damages, according to court documents. 
 
 “I couldn’t believe it,” said Steve Baker, Bailey’s owner. “Everyone was telling me to sue her, but I decided not to because it won’t bring Bailey back.” 
 
 Justice had already been served since the tragedy, he said. 
 
 “The police took the action I wanted and declared those dogs dangerous and awareness was raised; so I decided to let it go,” Baker said. “Now they’re suing me for $1 million — I just can’t believe it.” 
 
 Getting served with a lawsuit was a complete shock, he said. 
 
 Baker and his wife were served Wednesday with the lawsuit, filed in the 405th District Court, at their home, the same place where their dog was “shaken like a rag doll” by their neighbor’s four pitbulls Oct. 27. 
 
 According to court documents, Baker’s neighbor and the plaintiff in the case, Emerald White, claims she was “seriously injured” after she was “unexpectedly and viciously attacked” when she entered the Baker’s backyard to retrieve her dogs, which had entered through a hole in the mutual fence separating the two properties. 
 
 Multiple calls made by The Daily News to White’s attorney, Paul LaValle, were not returned Friday. 
 
 Court documents state that White said she suffered “multiple serious bite and scratch-type injuries requiring ongoing medical treatment.” She also alleges feeling “conscious pain and suffering and now suffers also from fear anxiety and trepidation” as a result of the “unprovoked attack.” 
 
 Baker said his dog, Bailey, had been nothing but a loyal companion to his family who had been around his two daughters since they were babies. 
 
 White also alleges in the lawsuit that the Bakers failed to confine and restrict Bailey in a secure enclosure. 
 
 Not long before the incident, Baker had worked to replace parts of the fence to be more secure and safe for his dog and family. 
 
 Baker said that before the incident, he had spoken with his neighbor about repairing his part of the fence, but never had any response. 
 
 Since the incident, White’s four dogs have been declared dangerous dogs by the city of Texas City. The dangerous dog ordinance requires the owners to obtain a secure enclosure that is at least 6 feet high with a mechanical locking device. 
 
 Each of the dogs must be registered with the city annually as a dangerous dog. The owners must post a sign in their yard alerting residents of their dangerous dogs and the owners must also have a $100,000 liability on the dogs, police have said. 
 
 Contact reporter Shannon Daughtry at 409-683-5337 or shannon.daughtry@galvnews.com. ||||| TEXAS CITY — The owner of pit bulls that killed a neighbor's beagle has agreed to drop her $1 million lawsuit against the dead dog's owners, The Daily News confirmed. 
 
 A settlement between the owner of pit bulls and the neighbors whose 10-year-old beagle the pit bulls killed will prevent the lawsuit from ever being refiled and will drop the motion for sanctions against the pit bull owner and her attorney, according to court documents. 
 
 “No money was offered or exchanged hands,” Angel Hagmaier, Steve and Tiffany Baker’s attorney, said of the settlement filed over the weekend. “We gave them the opportunity to do the right thing and they took it.” 
 
 Pit bull owner Emerald White’s attorney, Paul LaValle, did not return calls Sunday. He is scheduled to file a motion to withdraw the lawsuit Monday morning. 
 
 White originally filed her lawsuit against the Bakers Nov. 10 for up to $1 million in damages. 
 
 Hagmaier filed a motion for dismissal and sanctions against White and LaValle to compensate for the Bakers’ legal expenses shortly after the original lawsuit was filed. 
 
 White’s pit bulls attacked and killed the Bakers’ pet on Oct. 27 in the backyard of their home in the 2900 block of Ninth Street North in Texas City. 
 
 White claimed she was “seriously injured” when she was “unexpectedly and viciously attacked” by the Bakers’ 10-year-old beagle Bailey while in the Bakers’ backyard, which she had entered to retrieve her own dogs, according to court documents. 
 
 Hagmaier said White’s four dogs caused the injuries as they resisted her efforts to control them and from exposed nails and splintered wood White crawled through to enter the Bakers’ backyard, Hagmaier claimed in court filings. 
 
 Both she and the dogs entered the yard through a hole in the fence separating the two properties, according to court documents. 
 
 White also claimed she suffered “multiple serious bite and scratch-type injuries requiring ongoing medical treatment,” according to court documents. 
 
 “This is a ‘release of liability,’” Hagmaier said. “It is what the Bakers have said publicly that they wanted. This is a win for them and hopefully sends a message at the same time. 
 
 "Frivolous lawsuits will not be tolerated or rewarded.” 
 
 Hagmaier said she is glad that White and LaValle ultimately did the right thing involving the lawsuit. 
 
 “I am proud of the way the Bakers have conducted themselves throughout this ordeal,” she said. 
 
 Since the incident, White’s four dogs have been declared dangerous dogs by the city of Texas City. The dangerous dog ordinance requires the owners to obtain a secure enclosure that is at least 6 feet high with a mechanical locking device. 
 
 Each of the dogs must be registered with the city annually as a dangerous dog. The owners must post a sign in their yard alerting residents of their dangerous dogs and the owners must have a $100,000 liability insurance policy on the dogs, police have said. 
 
 White has until Dec. 18 to meet all of these requirements with the city. ||||| TEXAS CITY — For 13-year-old Brittany Baker, it’s hard to imagine life without her beagle, Bailey. As far back as Brittany can remember, Bailey had been a beloved member of her family. 
 
 But all of that changed Thursday when four pit bulls escaped from their yard in the 2900 block of Ninth Street North and slipped through a hole in her family’s back fence, attacking and killing the Baker’s 10-year-old dog. 
 
 “Ten is pretty old for beagles,” said Steve Baker, Brittany’s dad. “She was just a little old lady.” 
 
 Brittany had just arrived home from school when she heard the yelping, screaming and barking from her backyard, she said. 
 
 The yelping was coming from Bailey, the screaming from the dogs’ owner and the barking from the four other dogs, she said. 
 
 What she saw when she opened the back door was the four dogs ganging up on Bailey. 
 
 “I saw them chase her and pounce on top of her,” Brittany said. “The woman yelled for me to call 911.” 
 
 The dogs came from the house the Bakers share a fence with, Steve Baker said. 
 
 “They busted through, attacked my dog and shook her like a rag doll and chewed on her until she bled out,” Steve Baker said. 
 
 Within minutes, Texas City police and animal control officers were in the Bakers’ backyard as the pit bull owner hustled to get her four dogs back on her property. 
 
 “They spend about 45 minutes trying to get the dogs,” Steve Baker said. 
 
 The dogs pushed on and loosened slats in the fence. 
 
 Steve Baker said each homeowner is responsible for the slats facing his house, a pattern that alternates about every six feet. 
 
 “I had replaced all the slats that were my responsibility,” Steve Baker said. “I had even replaced a few of his.” 
 
 Although his family has lived at this house for just a few months, Steve Baker said he had spoken with his neighbor before Thursday’s incident. The neighbor said he was going to replace his portion of the fence, he said. 
 
 The Daily News attempted to contact the homeowners but was unsuccessful. 
 
 Texas City police say this is the first time they’ve had issues with these four dogs. 
 
 “We have a city ordinance against dangerous dogs,” Cpl. Randall Johnston said. 
 
 Because the city has that ordinance, police will be seeking a dangerous dog declaration on each of the four dogs, he said. 
 
 None of the four dogs has that declaration. 
 
 The dangerous dog ordinance requires the owners to obtain a secure enclosure that is at least six feet high. The enclosure must be built so the top of the fence can’t be reached by the dogs. 
 
 “It also must have a mechanical locking device,” Johnston said. 
 
 Each of the dogs must be registered annually as a dangerous dog with the city, and the homeowners must post a sign in their yard alerting residents of their dangerous dogs. 
 
 “The owners must also have a $100,000 liability on the dogs,” Johnston said. 
 
 In Texas City, there are actually very few dogs that are registered as dangerous dogs, Johnston said. 
 
 However, at this point, the Bakers think the best outcome of this tragedy will be raising awareness. 
 
 “The damages are really limited,” Steve Baker said. “It’s not like I want to put any real pain on them for this. A dog’s value to a family is priceless — you can’t replace that.” 
 
 The Bakers say they are pleased with how the city and police have responded to their family’s tragedy, but Steve Baker believes there should be more aggressive laws for aggressive animals. 
 
 “The lady in the house tried to prevent this attack with everything she could,” Steve Baker said. “She was trying to break it up, but what it comes down to is she couldn’t control them.” 
 
 Over the summer, League City officials toughened that city's dangerous dog ordinance. 
 
 Under the new rules there, a dog declared dangerous dogs must-have a microchip tag implanted, wear a fluorescent orange collar that identifies the animal as dangerous and up-to-date photos of the animal would be on file with the city’s animal control. 
 
 Any dog declared dangerous also would be held at League City's animal shelter until a court hearing is held to determine the dog’s future. 
 
 League City's ordinance was adopted soon after a two-year-old girl was attacked by a pit bull that belonged to her mother's boyfriend.
– Last month, Emerald White's four pit bulls got into a neighbor's yard and killed that Texas family's 10-year-old beagle. "Everyone was telling me to sue her, but I decided not to because it won't bring Bailey back," says Steve Baker, the beagle's owner. So imagine his surprise when he and his wife, Tiffany, were served with a $1 million lawsuit from White on Wednesday. In the lawsuit, White says that when she went into the Bakers' Texas City yard to get her dogs during the Oct. 27 incident, she was "unexpectedly and viciously attacked" and "seriously injured." She also accuses the Bakers of not keeping their dog in a secure enclosure, the Galveston County Daily News reports. White's dogs got into the Bakers' yard through a hole in the shared fence between their yards. But in an interview earlier this month, Baker told the Daily News that each homeowner is responsible for the fence slats that face his or her home, and that "I had replaced all the slats that were my responsibility. I had even replaced a few of [the neighbors']." Baker also now says that before Bailey was killed he tried to speak with the neighbors about fence repairs but got no response. In a report shortly after the attack, the Bakers' daughter told Click2Houston that their neighbor had repaired the fence after the attack. White's dogs were ultimately declared dangerous by the city; they are now required to be in a secure enclosure with a mechanical locking device.