The owner of two pit bulls accused of brutally attacking a woman and her dog will surrender the animals to be rehomed, according to a Lakeway Municipal Court judge’s ruling Friday.

Following an extensive meeting with a local prosecutor, Lakeway resident Patricia Stanford told Judge Kevin Madison she declined a trial on the charges that she failed to quarantine her pets after the incident. The surrender was made a condition of her probation along with court costs and a nominal fine. The charges will be dismissed Sept. 12 upon proof that Stanford has complied with the probation terms and doesn’t violate any other city ordinances.

Stanford was given a choice to surrender the dogs to either Lakeway Police Department Animal Protection Officer Andrea Greig or to Stanford’s sister, a resident of Spicewood’s Thurman Bend area. Stanford said she will give the dogs to her sister who lives on fenced acreage where she can still visit the animals.

“I’m thinking seriously of fighting that (rehoming requirement) after the probation ends,” she said. “I’ve taken precautions to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

But Stanford’s troubles don’t end with the June 14 judgment.

She is also facing a $1 million civil lawsuit stemming from the April 26 incident at Austin Ridge Disc Golf Course on Commons Ford Road in Austin.

Erica Curtis, a resident of the Cuernavaca neighborhood, said she was walking her leashed 10-year-old English bulldog on a heavily wooded trail when she encountered two unleashed dogs without collars. Curtis said she shouted several times to Stanford to grab her dogs and leash them or to walk them the other way. But Curtis said Stanford kept on the path, headed straight for Curtis, saying, ‘“No, it’s OK, they’re good.’”

“A second later, they came on both sides of my dog and I and started attacking,” she said. “It ended up being a 20-minute fight.”

Stanford argues it was Curtis’ dog that initiated the fight with her 7-year-old male and female pit bull dogs.

“The problem is that her dog aggressively attacked one of my dogs in the beginning, and that’s what started the fight,” she said.

She said that Curtis’ dog was unleashed at the time of the incident.

Eva Chapman, a church volunteer with Austin Bible Church, confirmed the trail and disc golf course are located on church property. Signs posted at the privately owned trail entrance don’t state that users must have their pets on a leash or collared.

Stanford said Curtis called to her to “stop.” She said Curtis said her dog “doesn’t get along with other dogs.”

Stanford said she threw her body on top of the fighting dogs, suffering injuries to her back and receiving dog bites in the process.

Greig said she was first contacted about the attack by Austin Animal Control because the dogs resided in her area. She then called Curtis to find out more about the incident.

“I contacted (Curtis) because I was worried about my citizens in the city of Lakeway,” Greig said. “I wanted to know about these dogs since I didn’t have an incident with them since 2014.”

Lakeway Police Department records reflect Greig left a voicemail for Stanford inquiring about the dogs’ vaccine records and stating the animals needed to be quarantined or the city of Austin would seize the dogs. When she didn’t hear back from Stanford, the record shows Grieig contacted Austin Animal Control, telling the department’s rabies clerk that the city can seize the dogs.

The record shows Austin/Travis County Animal Services Animal Control intended to file dangerous dog charges on Stanford but its staffer wasn’t able to reach her. Greig called Stanford again, leaving a voice message, and issued a summons for her to appear in court for failing to quarantine her dogs under the state’s health and safety code.

Curtis was transported from the scene by ambulance to a local hospital and has since endured three surgeries on her hands from injuries she sustained trying to stop the attack. She said she had a broken thumb and a fractured finger, requiring the insertion of three pins.

“I was covered in bruises head to toe, pretty much covered in blood, dog hair and dirt,” Curtis said.

Her dog, Boomskie, still has stitches in place from his fourth surgery last week, procedures that Curtis said tallies about $10,000 in veterinary bills so far.

“My husband and I don’t have children so (Boomskie is) like our child,” she said. “He is everything to us. This isn’t how he’s supposed to die.”

Curtis said the attack has caused her to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder when she is around dogs. She said she hasn’t walked Boomskie outside since the attack.

According to Lakeway records, Stanford’s dogs have three prior incidents of attacking another dog, with two of the reports dating back to 2014.

The records reflect two incidents were investigated by Lakeway Police Department, including a Jan. 21, 2014, attack on a neighbor’s dog and a Dec. 29, 2014, attack on a dog that belonged to a renter in Stanford’s home.

In both incidents, there was no vicious stranger or an unprovoked attack to trigger the dangerous dog law and a quarantine by animal control, Lakeway Police Chief Todd Radford said.

The third attack occurred on April 3, 2018, in the Bee Cave Dog Park, with the attacked dog suffering a punctured eardrum and wounds to its neck and head. Stanford’s dog was taken into quarantine by Animal Control for 10 days. Bee Cave Police Chief Gary Miller confirmed Stanford was banned from the city’s dog park following the incident.

Greig said she also issued a citation to Stanford in 2016 for having dogs at large, or unleashed.

If an attack happens in another city, it is dealt with by the other jurisdiction and not Lakeway, Radford said. In this case, Travis County has jurisdiction over the incident, he said. The Lake Travis View has requested records pertaining to the attack from county officials.

Attorneys Jason and Justin McMinn, principals in McMinn Law Firm, are representing Curtis in a civil lawsuit filed May 29 against Stanford for $1 million in damages incurred by Curtis and her pet. The lawsuit alleges Stanford’s dogs harbor dangerous propensities and that she was negligent in handling the animals.

As of June 13, the Travis County district clerk’s office confirmed Stanford had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Radford said owners must leash dogs when in the city of Lakeway and advised calling 9-1-1 immediately when there is an animal attack.

Radford said Stanford has not been banned from Lakeway’s dog park.

Curtis said she worries about Stanford’s dogs harming others.

“From her knowing her dogs attack, I feel like she’s a predator walking around with two murderous weapons,” Curtis said. “God forbid this was a child or a little old lady in my instance. They would not have been able to fight the way I fought.”

The Travis County leash law states:

• Owners must keep dogs on their property or on a leash if off property;

• Unrestrained dogs can be impounded;

• A dog can be impounded if an owner is issued three unleashed dog citations;

• Collars are recommended, though not required; and

• A dog can be declared “dangerous” if it attacks a person or animal without provocation and either causes injury to a person or causes that person to reasonably believe the dog will attack and injure that person.

Telephone calls to Austin Animal Control were not returned as of press time.