Fannie Pearl Pharms was a sweet, kind, elder and was always willing to share her loving spirit with anyone with whom she came in contact. But all that came to an abrupt end when she was mauled to death by her Sunnyside neighbor’s dogs.
Longtime Houston activist Cynthia Pharms traces the roots of her multi-faceted activism back to that tragedy. Fannie Pearl Pharms was her aunt.
“She was a Christian lady who just went to church, home, and work every day. So, I had to push to get something done with legislation because dogs were eating people,” said Pharms.
“It was two pit bulls and a Rottweiler that killed her in the neighborhood. I didn’t realize until after my aunt was killed that there were so many seniors out here and young people who needed help with dog attacks,” said Pharms. “People in the neighborhood warned the neighbors for many days about those dogs, and nobody did anything about it.
NATIONAL RANKING
According to the United States Postal Service’s national ranking of cities where the most dog attacks on mail carriers occurred in 2023, California and Texas topped the list for the second year in a row.
Los Angeles postal workers suffered 65 attacks compared to 56 endured by Houston mail carriers in 2023. Statewide, Texas mail carriers experienced 411 attacks compared to California’s 727.
Those numbers, however, do not include dog attacks on people who aren’t postal employees.
In early December, a five-year-old girl in Los Angeles County, California, was attacked and killed by her family dogs at their home.
The dogs involved were a 10-year-old Rottweiler and a 6-year-old Rottweiler mix, dogs the child interacted with her entire life.
General population dog attack stats are hard to find, if at all. But what’s not hard to find are examples of dog attacks in Houston and across the state, that have led to serious injuries, trauma, and even death.
HOUSTON
In late August, in North Harris County, a woman pushing a two-year-old in a stroller was attacked by a loose pit bull in the 20900 block of Manon Lane. The dog attacked and bit the child and the woman who tried to stop the dog. Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said the dog was taken into custody by Animal Control.
In another incident, a two-year-old girl died in a relative’s home after being mauled by that family’s three Rottweilers in the 2500 block of Milwaukee Street in July. And in February, six-year-old Christian Andres was attacked by a neighbor’s pit bull that reportedly broke off its leash. Andres was bitten multiple times, resulting in the first grader spending three weeks in the hospital and confined to a wheelchair while recovering.
CLEVELAND, TX
Just days before that California tragedy, an ABC13 report revealed several residents of Cleveland, TX (Liberty County) “living in terror” after experiencing three dog attacks in two days.
One of those residents, Emily Curtis, said she was surrounded by a “mob” of seven dogs on Thanksgiving right outside her home. Three of those dogs, she says, bit her on her legs, arms and buttocks.
A day before that, the same pack of dogs reportedly attacked a FedEx delivery driver and another person in the neighborhood.
Curtis added that the same dogs attacked her neighbors the day before.
“I’m on alert. I have mace, and I have a hammer,” Curtis said. “I go upstairs and look at the street and make sure there are no dogs out there before I go outside.”
Curtis claims the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office has been woefully inept at capturing these animals, which were still on the loose as of this article’s publication.
“They just ignore the situation, and their ignorance allowed this to happen,” Curtis said.
The Defender reached out to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office for comments, but have not received a response at the time of publication.
BRAZORIA COUNTY
Another recent dog attack happened a three-year-old Brazoria County boy who was attacked by a family dog, resulting in injuries to his legs and back.
Even though the wounds were non-life threatening, the toddler was transported to the hospital by Life Flight due to the amount of injuries. Investigators revealed two dogs were in the home, but it is unclear if both dogs attacked the boy. Still, both dogs were taken into custody by the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office of Animal Welfare.
LOCAL AND STATE ACTIONS
“After my aunt was killed, there was not a law passed for dog bites. You had to be bit twice by a dog before something could be done about it in the state of Texas. So, me and my support group, we got together, and we had foot soldiers all over Texas who got petitions going. I spoke at many town hall meetings, stayed in the media, on the radio, TV, and we had to go to the State Legislature twice for it,” said Pharms.
The “it” Pharms refers to is House Bill 1355, which passed after her group’s second go-round in Austin, according to Pharms, because between 8-to-10 more people statewide died from dog attacks between the first attempt at passing the “Dog Bill” and when it actually passed in 2007.
“Those deaths could have been prevented if the bill had passed the first time,” said Pharms.
So, one day the dogs mauled her and they ate her brains. When they regurgitated the dogs’ stomachs, flesh from her skull came out.
Cynthia Pharms
House Bill 1355 provided stiffer penalties for dog owners who attacked people. Senator Eliot Shapleigh sponsored the bill in the Texas Senate, and it came to be known as Lillian’s Law.
The bill, which arguably would never have come to pass without Pharms’ advocacy, was named after Lillian Stiles, a 76-year-old Thorndale, Texas woman who was killed while riding a lawnmower in the front yard of her home on Nov. 26, 2005.
MORE LOCAL ACTIONS
In April of this year, BARC (3200 Carr St., Houston, 77026) expanded opportunities for Houstonians to surrender stray animals and owned animals.
“In 2023, BARC animal enforcement officers received 59,573 calls for service, an increase of more than 5,000 from 2022. This rise in call volume is indicative of the rising needs of our community, and I’m again proud of our staff for being proactive and expanding intake to further address the stray animal crisis in Houston,” said BARC Shelter Director Jarrad Mears.
Mears said BARC’s total intake of stray pets (mainly dogs and cats) was 19,209, “The highest of any municipal shelter in the Houston area.”
The hope is that more animals in shelters mean fewer potential dog attacks by strays and more dogs finding homes.
However, this year’s dog attack tragedies show more still needs to be done.
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ANIMAL SHELTER / ANIMAL CONTROL / BARC INFO
- Houston Police Animal Control 713.884.3131
- Pet Adoptions: barcadoptions@houstontx.gov
- Customer Service: 832.395.9084 or 311
- If you would like to report a stray dog, dangerous dog, or any other complaint to Animal Control, please call 311.
