Stray dog bites 5 students during recess at YES Prep campus

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Several YES Prep students were bitten during recess by a stray dog at the southeast campus.

Roosevelt Padilla was one of those students. Tuesday afternoon, he showed Eyewitness News his still bandaged foot as he recounted what happened.

"I was walking and stopped to look at the dog and he bit my foot and I dropped to the floor. I blacked out for a few seconds," Padilla said.

School officials said a total of five 7th grade students were attacked when the dog got onto the playground Tuesday afternoon in the 300 block of Crenshaw Road.

"The kids started playing with him, and then the dog just started biting shoes and everything," said Ashley Davila, a student who witnessed the attack.

Teachers managed to put a sweater around the dog and put him in a car until City of Houston Animal Control officers arrived. The dog will now be in quarantine for 10 days.

Neighbors said stray dogs have long been a problem in the area for many years.

"It's been a problem," said Becky Ayala, who has called 311 in the past, asking for animal control to help catch the dogs. "It's been a problem for at least, in the last 5 years, and it's gotten worse."

Fortunately, none of the five students were seriously injured.

"It just started running up to people and biting them," said Padilla. "It just came up to us and bit us."

YES Prep Public Schools did not comment on camera. The charter school did release a statement on Tuesday's incident:

Maintaining a safe and welcoming learning environment is a top priority of YES Prep. Today, unfortunately, some of our middle school students were bitten by a stray dog during their outdoor recess at approximately 12:20 pm at our Southeast campus. Thankfully, our staff acted swiftly to contain the dog and take students to safety. Emergency personnel were immediately contacted and reported to the campus to treat injured students awaiting the arrival of their parents. No students have been transported to the hospital and all have gone home with their parents. Control has removed the dog from the premises and the Houston Police Department is investigating the matter. We will work with all authorities to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future and wish our students a speedy recovery.

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