NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A mother shielded her toddler while they were attacked by a couple of dogs at their apartment complex. Now, neighbors are begging for help because they said the animals are terrorizing tenants at the apartment complex.
At the Biltmore Place Apartments, Farhia Ahmed is recovering after the incident. Her daughter, Hawa Gedi, suffered a couple scrapes to her back.
“One of them was trying to get the baby, to take her away from the mom," her husband Abdullahi Gedi said.
They showed us their injuries from Tuesday evening. She told her boys to run, and while she held her toddler, she took the brunt of the attack.
“I was shocked. Still my kids they are inside at this apartment. They didn’t go to school since Tuesday because they still feeling very, very shocked,” Gedi said. “They’re not going to go outside."
Their children don't want to go outside to wait on the school bus because they’re worried they'll encounter the dogs. Neighbors said they’re scared to take the trash out because they don’t know when the dogs are going to come back.
"They’re walking out with like weapons and stuff because this is the second time that this has happened," Anzal Ali said.
Ali spoke on behalf of another neighbor attacked by dogs here.
"She got attacked January of 2023, and now it happened again in March of ‘24,” Ali said. “Those dogs should have been put down when they attacked her back in January but the apartment, animal control, everyone failed us, and next time I don’t know who it will happen to."
A group of tenants went to the apartment complex begging for help they said.
“We’re told by my maintenance we know exactly who those pitbulls are and we know what apartment they’re in. So what does that tell you?” Ali said.
It's unclear if the dogs are strays or have owners. There's no pictures of the dogs because if people see them, they run.
"We’re still frustrated," Gedi said.
Family met with police, and animal control officers have set up traps outside to try and catch the dogs. If it turns out the dogs have owners, they can be cited locally, and state charges could be possible.
I reached out to the property management company but did not hear back.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
