Park Worker Mauled by Dog

Kansas City, MO (WorkersCompensation.com) – Cleaning up after pets turned into running from them for one worker last week.

A Kansas City, Missouri city worker is recovering after being attacked by two dogs who were not on their leash, officials said.

The incident happened last week when the city worker was working during a city-wide cleanup effort when the two dogs began attacking those in the area. A volunteer with the cleanup told KCTV the dogs were running loose and attacked multiple people.

“It’s a very scary situation to go through. You’re out just trying to help to clean up a park, it’s incredibly alarming,” says Tori Fugate, KC Pet Project Chief Communications officer.

Officials said the employee faces serious injuries. Fugate said KC Pet Project is investigating the incident. Officials said it is illegal to let dogs roam on the loose.

“We do not want to see this happen where dogs are attacking people in parks. We don’t want to see that in KC. It is important to keep your dogs contained so that they cannot go out and run the streets,” says Fugate.

The dogs were seized by animal control as the investigation continues. The owners could face charges.

The attack comes weeks after a California worker died after being mauled by dogs at a business.

On March 7, a man was working at a home in Jurupa Valley, Cal., that had recently been converted into a supply building for an electrical business, when four dogs attacked him.

Officials said the victim was there to do work for the property owner, and had been in the business before without incident. Around 7:30 a.m., a witness called 911 after hearing screams at the business.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies said the dogs were owned by the property owner and that various signs warned about the dogs - three Belgian Malinois and a Cane Corso.

The worker was declared dead at the scene.

A neighbor told NBC4 the dogs would often get out due to people going into and out of the property who would leave the gate open.

“The dogs chase the cars, the high school students. They’re dangerous, that’s why I close my gate all the time – I have small children and that’s why I close it,” the neighbor said.

Animal control said the dogs would be euthanized.

Authorities recently found that there was no wrongdoing in the case of a postal worker who died after being attacked by five dogs in Putnam County, Fla.

In August of last year, Pamela Rock, 61, was working as a mail carrier when she was mauled by the dogs that got out of a fenced-in yard. Putnam County Sheriff’s Office officials said Rock’s mail truck had broken down on a dirt road when she was attacked.

Federal and local investigators did not find any wrongdoing by either Rock’s employer or the dogs’ owners.

According to the Florida State Attorney’s Office, the dogs’ owner tried to surrender the dogs twice, including 10 days before the attack.

Officials said that in February 2022, the dogs’ owner called Putnam County Animal Control and left a message that he needed to surrender his dogs because he could no longer take care of them. Animal Control staff never returned his call, investigators said. Less than two weeks later, the dogs escaped his yard and attacked a 50-year-old man, officials said.

After that attack, the dogs’ owner was told by a deputy to quarantine the dogs and Animal Control would contact him. Animal Control officials said they were never given the police report and that no one contacted them to alert them to the situation.

On August 10, a woman told police that one of the dogs had escaped from the yard and attacked her car. Law enforcement referred the case to Animal Control which followed up with the dogs’ owner who tried to surrender the animals for a second time. According to the Attorney General’s office, the request was declined, “Based on Putnam County Animal Control’s assessment of the situation.”

Ten days later, the dogs escaped the fence fortified with rocks, logs, cinder blocks and other materials, and attacked Rock, investigators said. Officials said while the Sheriff’s Office had recommended charges of misdemeanor recklessness for the dogs’ owner, the State Attorney’s Office said the man wasn’t reckless because he had tied to get rid of the dogs and fix the fence.

The dogs have since been euthanized.

OSHA’s investigation did not find any safety violations either.

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