Baytown police say it happened around 5pm Thursday at a home in the 4900 block of St. Andrews at Country Club, where the two dogs lived.
The little girl, a neighbor and regular visitor at the house, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital with multiple injuries to her arm and back.
The gate to the front door is always locked at the house where the attack happened. But on Thursday, according to those who live there, the 12-year-old girl reached around and unlocked it herself, triggering the dogs to respond.
"They heard the gate obviously. We didn't and then we heard screaming so we came running and they were already on her," said one of the dogs' owners, who didn't want to be identified. "She was holding onto the gate, on the outside of the gate, but she couldn't get away."
The woman says she and her family were in the backyard with the dogs when the girl -- a neighbor who plays with her niece -- arrived. The two dogs, a pit bull and lab mix, latched onto her back and an arm. She was rushed to the hospital aboard LifeFlight. The resident says the girl had been there before and always waited until the dogs were restrained to enter.
"She knew better. I'm not blaming her. She's 12 years old. I don't know what to say about her, other than I hope she's OK," the owner said.
The dogs are now being held in quarantine at Baytown's Animal Control Facility. The owner says they are up to date on their vaccinations.
"They were confined in their own home in the residence," she said.
If true, they likely won't face any consequences for something she says has never happened before.
"They're our pets. They're our babies. We've had them since they were five weeks old and they've never attacked another person," the owner said.
Though the girl was bitten several times, she was concious and alert when she was rushed to the hospital. Baytown first responders were hoping her wounds were mostly superficial but she was flown to the hospital just in case they turned out to be more serious.
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