dog attack
Police are investigating whether a Houston woman was killed in an attack by her own dogs after they got into a fight with her neighbor's dogs.

Police responded to the woman's Houston home on November 19 after receiving a report of a deceased person. When officers arrived, they found the victim, identified as Tiffany Frangione, 48, in her backyard with puncture wounds to her neck.

A preliminary investigation found that Frangione let her dogs out into her backyard on Friday, where they fought with the neighbor's dogs through a fence, according to the Houston Police Department. Police believe Frangione attempted to intervene in the dog fight and was potentially attacked by her own dogs.


Police said in a statement that they're awaiting autopsy results. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences found her death was accidental and listed the cause as "blunt force trauma of the neck with penetrating injuries and mechanical asphyxia," the Houston Chronicle reported.

Newsweek reached out to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science for comment.

A spokesperson for the BARC Animal Shelter and Adoption told local news station KTRK that Frangione's husband turned the two dogs, a 5-year-old female Alaskan husky mix and male Cane Corso mix, over to the facility. Both dogs will be euthanized.

Cane Corsos, according to the American Kennel Club, are considered fairly good with young children and other dogs.

They're also considered very affectionate with their families and people they know well and are considered "smart" and "trainable." A "big guardian dog," the American Kennel Club called it "vital" that they have responsible breeding and early socialization with people.

Alaskan huskies aren't a recognized breed with the American Kennel Club, so there's no breed profile on the dog. It's also unclear what other breeds were part of the Alaskan husky's mix.

Anyone with additional information about the case is being urged to call the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

Two years before Frangione was potentially attacked, Houston police investigated the death of Elaine Richman, who trained Doberman Pinschers. In 2019, Richman was found dead in her backyard with bite marks covering her face and body, according to KTRK.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled her death an accident and Tom Pincus, the president of the Houston Kennel Club, told the Houston Chronicle at the time that it's "extremely unusual" for a person to be attacked by their personal dogs.