text: 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. ||||| VERY SAD STORY TONIGHT FROM TEXAS CITY. THIS FAMILY PET WAS ATTACKED IN ITS NEIGHBORHOOD BY OTHER DOGS. AND WAS KILLED. THE MOST TRAGIC PART, A 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO HAD GROWN UP WITH THIS DOG SAW THE WHOLE THING HAPPEN. SAMANTHA PTASHKIN NOW WITH THE STORY ALL NEW AT 6. Reporter: THIS IS BAILEY, A TEN-YEAR-OLD BEAGLE, A BIG PART OF 13-YEAR-OLD BRITTANY BAKER'S LIFE. I'VE HAD HER SINCE I WAS THREE. SO I DON'T REMEMBER NOT HAVING HER. Reporter: SO IMAGINE DEVASTATION WHEN BRITTANY WENT INTO HER BACKYARD. I SAW TWO PIT BULLS COMING FROM THIS HOLE RUNNING AND MY DOG WAS RUNNING FROM HERE. Reporter: THEN SAW WHAT WAS ONCE HER PRECIOUS PUP LIFELESS ON THE GROUND. IT JUST LOOKED LIKE SHE WASN'T -- SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE LIFE IN HER ANYMORE. Reporter: POLICE SAY FOUR DOGS FROM NEXT DOOR, THREE PIT BULLS AND A MIXED BREED, HAD SLIPPED THROUGH A HOLE IN THE FENCE, THEN ATTACKED BAILEY. IT WAS CHAOTIC. THERE WAS A LOT OF BARKING. Reporter: WHEN ANIMAL CONTROL ARRIVED, THEY EVENTUALLY GOT THE DOGS UNDER CONTROL AND BACK ON THEIR SIDE OF THE FENCE. BUT BY A CITY ORDINANCE, THE DOGS ARE NOW CONSIDERED DANGEROUS, WHICH MEANS THE OWNERS HAVE TO FOLLOW CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS POSTING A SIGN LIKE THIS ON THEIR FENCE. ONE OF THE THINGS IS THE DOG HAS TO REMAIN INSIDE AN ENCLOSURE. THE OWNER OBTAIN $100,000 LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY. Reporter: BRITTANY DOESN'T HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST HER NEIGHBORS. SHE SAYS THEY'VE SINCE BOARDED UP THE HOLE IN THE FENCE. ME AND MY MOM HEARD THEM FIXING IT I THINK SATURDAY. Reporter: BUT SHE'S NOW HESITANT TO GO IN HER YARD. A BIT SCARED OF THE DOGS ON THE OTHER SIDE. IT'S KIND OF HARD TO THINK ABOUT IT OR COME OUT HERE. Reporter: SHE KNOWS NOTHING WILL BRING BAILEY BACK. REPORTING FROM TEXAS CITY, SAMANTHA PTASHKIN, KPRC "LOCAL 2". ANIMAL CONTROL TOOK CUSTODY OF TWO OF THE DOGS, BUT THEIR OWNERS HAVE SINCE PICKED THE DOGS UP. THE CITY SAYS THE OWNER NOW HAS 15 DAYS TO APPEAL THE 
   
   TEXAS CITY, Texas - 
   
   Four Texas City dogs are now considered dangerous after police say they attacked and killed a dog next door. 
   
   
   
   It happened last week in the 2900 block of Ninth Street North in Texas City. 
   
   
   
   Brittany Baker, 13, says she came from school to find four dogs, three pit bulls and a mixed breed, attacking her beagle named Bailey. "It just looked like she didn't have the life in her anymore," Brittany said. 
   
   
   
   Police say the dogs got into her backyard through a hole in the fence. "There was barking and it was very chaotic," said Cpl. Randall Johnston of the Texas City Police Department. 
   
   
   
   Eventually officers were able to get the dogs out of Brittany's yard, but it was too late for Bailey. "It's weird coming out here," said Brittany about her backyard. Until her interview with Local 2, she said, she had not been in her yard since the attack. 
   
   She said the owner of the dogs next door has since repaired the hole in the fence they share and she does not hold a grudge. 
   
   
   
   Texas City has a dangerous dog ordinance, which says a dog is deemed dangerous if: it inflicts severe injury or death to a person, kills a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property, or chases or approaches a person on the street in a menacing fashion. 
   
   Johnston says all four dogs have been deemed dangerous under the ordinance. 
   
   Once a dog is deemed dangerous and if its owner decides to keep it, he or she must abide by several regulations. Those include: keeping the dog in an enclosed space, micro-chipping and tagging the dog, posting a sign on his or her premises warning there is a vicious animal on the property and showing the city animal control department a certificate of public liability insurance in the amount of $100,000. 
   
   The owner has 15 days to appeal the decision. Defenses include the following: if the animal was protecting or defending a person, the animal was injured and responding to pain, the animal was protecting her puppies, itself or its kennel mates, or the animal killed was at the time teasing, tormenting, abusing or assaulting the animal. ||||| 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.
target: – 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.