Dog attack lands local man in hospital

A new Tucumcari resident was hospitalized after a dog abruptly attacked him Saturday afternoon.

John Nichols, who moved to Tucumcari with his wife Ruth from Utah about six weeks ago, suffered bite injuries to the back of both legs, one arm and his head. The head wound required eight staples to close.

The Nicholses, who live in the 2000 block of South Eighth Street, said the attack occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday.

He said a neighbor’s pitbull, which usually is behind a locked gate and wall across the street, was loose.

The Tucumcari Police Department declined to identify the dog’s owner because he had not been charged. The case has been referred to the district attorney’s office.

John said he was walking down an alley, was confronted by the growling animal and turned to walk away.

He said the dog then charged.

“He took me down hard,” John said in a phone interview Sunday, adding he tried several times to get to his feet.

“He was just tearing me up. It was terrifying. I know his intention was to kill me.”

John said he yelled at his son to retrieve a gun from inside the house. In the interim, John took a switchblade from his pocket and stabbed the dog in the neck.

He said that seemed to surprise the animal, and it turned to go back home.

Ruth said Tucumcari police officers who investigated told them the department rates dog attacks from 1 to 5 in terms of severity. He said Saturday’s attack was rated a 5 — the worst possible.

Elijah Huber, a TPD patrolman and humane law enforcement officer who investigated the attack, said Monday the dog was treated at Tucumcari Animal Hospital for an arterial wound and released.

Huber said the dog’s owner was unaware how the gate was opened.

Huber said the dog was placed under a mandatory 10-day quarantine, though the animal was up-to-date on its rabies shots. Huber said the dog remains under a home quarantine where the animal can be securely confined.

“We’re doing everything we can to ensure public safety,” he said.

Huber said the residence of the dog’s owner had no history of problems before Saturday.

Sunday’s attack brought to mind the Feb. 1 fatal attack by five dogs of Tucumcari resident Stanley Hartt. Two city residents were criminally charged, and their cases are winding through the court system.

Tucumcari resident Haley Place, who organized memorial services for Hartt, posted photos of John’s bloody wounds on social media.

“It is horrific,” Place said. “If it had been a child …”

Ruth said city officials ought to require pitbulls to be kept behind a 12-by-15-foot padlocked pen, and its owners should be mandated to carry $1 million in liability insurance.

The Nicholses weren’t in town when the fatal dog attack occurred earlier this year, but they said they were aware of it.

John said he was at Trigg Memorial Hospital for about four hours for treatment of his wounds.

“I hurt like hell today,” he said Sunday.

John said he was told he could opt to have the animal destroyed. He said Sunday he hadn’t made up his mind what to do.

“It’s a really hard decision,” he said. “I don’t know what to do. I have dogs. But something needs to be done with these vicious dogs.”