Alice Baker Lost A Best Friend

Managing Editor/Publisher

Ulysses resident Alice Baker never thought her own yard would not be a safe zone. She and one of her best friends, Jenny - a little white Schnauzer weighing somewhere between 13 and 20 pounds - had a ritual every day.  They would walk out to the mailbox.

Through her tears, Alice recounted the day she lost her friend. It is a day, February 13, she will never forget.

"Jenny was so excited to go to the mailbox," Alice said. "I could hardly hold her still to get her leash on, but we got the leash on. I had my boots on and my gloves on."

Alice says the whole purpose for her and Jenny was that mailbox trip.

"I don't let her out in the front yard to pee," Alice said, "and Jenny didn't know the difference on what day it was - if the mail was coming. She just knew going to the mailbox was a special trip."

Alice and Jenny started out the door, when Alice saw something.

"I saw the brown dog coming from across the street," she said. "I told Jenny, 'we have to go back to the house'. I had her turned around and my back was to the road, so I didn't see the other dog."

But then, Alice heard something she will never forget.

"I heard her cry," she said fighting back tears. "He had her pinned down, chewing her ears. She was crying and I couldn't do anything."

Alice tried to intervene, but to no avail.

"I grabbed the collar of the male dog and tried to pull him back," she said. "He would leave for a little while and come right back. Her cries were just awful. I felt so bad that I couldn't help her."

In her attempts to help her Jenny, Alice was attacked as well - it was then she was glad she had worn her gloves.

"Thank goodness I had them on - that probably saved these two fingers," she said holding up her hand. "I got three stitches on my fingers. They only put three in, because they said it needed to drain. Otherwise, it could get infection. It has a bigger scar than my other finger, which mainly has discoloration."

Alice called the police on her cellphone, which she says she always carries with her.

"I was so shocked when I saw that brown dog - I wasn't expecting to have problems in my yard," Alice said. "I had my phone with me - I don't go out without it. I called the police and they came really quickly. Officer (J.D.) Brown and another officer (Detective Carlos Salinas) got the dogs loaded up in the Animal Control Officer's truck when they came back. The dogs had gone down to the corner, but came back when the police showed up."

Alice said before the two dogs were loaded Animal Control Officer Ann Langston had scooped up Jenny in her arms.

"She said, 'I feel a heart beat (and) I want to get her to the vet as soon as those dogs are loaded'," Baker said. "She left with Jenny and that's the best memory I have."

Jenny would not survive the attack. And, Alice's world has not been the same.

"I had Jenny for 13 years," Alice said. "She would have been14 in June. She was 2.5 pounds when we got her."

Alice said she had not seen the two dogs who attacked Jenny before that day.

"But after they attacked - I could identify them," she said. "The male had the most blood on him from attacking Jenny."

After the attack, Alice is still dealing with the trauma.

"I don't see how anyone gets over watching their dog get killed," she said. "My neighbor washed my grass because I could see the blood from my front door - it was very traumatic."

Alice attempted a bit of a smile through her tears as she recalled how protective Jenny had been towards her and, how jealous she was of Alice's great grandchildren.

"When they came over, she had to go to the bedroom with the gate up," Alice said. "She would bark at my great grandkids and they were afraid of her. I think she knew they were afraid of her and that she had the upper hand. She liked everybody except my great grandkids."

It is upsetting to Alice that the two dogs that attacked Jenny have not yet been euthanized.

"They are still alive being fed and taken care of," she said. "It is hard knowing they are still alive."

Alice said her son called to tell one of her grandchildren, who was particularly, close to Jenny, what had happened.

"He didn't want him to hear any other way," Alice said.

Alice spoke at last week's City Council meeting and her son set up a display in memory of Jenny.

"The picture on her urn is when she was about seven weeks old," Alice said. "We had her for about one week when that picture was taken." 

Alice has a new "best friend by her side now - a little Shih Tzu she has named Bailey.

"She is 3-years-old and is very lovable," Alice says. "She likes the kids. It's not the same without Jenny, but Bailey is very loving to me and follows me everywhere I go. She wants to be in my lap and that is fine. I am thankful I have my  Bailey. The people who had her originally named her Bailor, but I like Bailey better. She answers to Bailey."

Alice continues to deal with the loss of Jenny not only with the healing of her injuries to her hand, but the trauma of everything that happened.

"I am very thankful to the officers and (ACO) Anne (Langston) for getting their so quickly," Alice said. "I hope it never happens to anybody again - ever."