Man, his 2 dogs attacked by another dog in Southeast Austin neighborhood

AUSTIN, Texas - An Austin resident is warning neighbors about a problem he said is threatening lives. He said a dog attacked him and his two dogs in Southeast Austin.

"It was absolutely one of the scariest moments of my entire life," Lucas Cook said.

Last Tuesday, Lucas Cook was heading out the door to take his two chihuahuas for a walk in the Colorado Crossing Subdivision in Southeast Austin.

"I got into the road, looked over, and saw a stray dog walking on the sidewalk. The dog immediately saw me and began charging," Cook said.

Cook said as he tried to pick up his dogs, "it was just a matter of how do I stop this and save my dogs? What can I do?" Cook said.

The dog then attacked him and knocked him down.

"How can you possibly know what to do or expect when a fierce rage dog is coming after you and knocking you down?" Cook said. "The dog had my dog, Neumann’s head in its entire mouth at one point."

The fight continued until Cook’s wife came outside and pulled the dog off Cook and the chihuahuas. They ran inside, then Cook rushed the chihuahuas to the emergency surgery center.

"Both of them had major neck and head lacerations," Cook said. "Very extensive damage, seconds away from both dogs being killed."

Cook said that was something he couldn’t imagine.

"They mean everything to us. They’re our little buddies and our first kids," Cook said.

Cook said he’s now determined to find out who owns the dog, assuming it’s not a stray.

"Not only to give my wife and my dog some closure and hopefully some justice here on what happened, but also the people in the neighborhood who are scared to death," Cook said.

Cook said this isn’t the first time a dog attack has happened in this neighborhood.

"There were two in the month of June and both people got a hold of me and said, I'm pretty sure that's the dog because this particular dog isn't interested in humans, its M.O. is attacking other dogs, and humans get involved when they're protecting their dogs," Cook said.

The management company for the homeowner association emailed residents in the neighborhood warning them of this danger and making them aware of the community bylaws and local ordinances which require dogs to be leashed at all times when outside and under direct control of their owner.

The Austin Police Department released a statement on the incident:

"After reviewing the case, no Animal Cruelty was found, therefore this is a civil matter. The victims were notified to contact Animal Control to pursue a civil case and the report was sent to Animal Control. In order for detectives to move forward with an investigation, all four of the below elements must be met.

HSC 822.005 Attack by Dog
This case does not meet the elements for criminal charges under HSC 822.005 Attack by Dog. The following elements must be met:

--owner fails to secure dog
--must be an unprovoked attack on another person
--must occur at a location other than the dog owner's residence
--must cause serious bodily injury (defined by PC 1.07) or death"

Cook said he doesn’t plan on walking his dogs for a while.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help. You can find more information below or by clicking here.