San Francisco dog mauling prompts push for new pet safety rules in supportive housing

More than a week after a woman was mauled by a dog on a San Francisco Tenderloin District sidewalk, many witnesses said they remain shaken by what they saw. The attack is now prompting a city supervisor to push for stricter safety requirements for people who keep dogs in city-supported housing.

The attack happened just outside Shauna Adams apartment building where she lives with her children on Larkin Street.

"I heard a lady screaming in terror," Adams said. "That's when I ran to my building right up here and looked out the window. She was getting attacked here."

Adams said the large, pit bull-type dog bit the woman repeatedly as she tried to defend herself.

"She tried to use her hands to stop the dog," Adams said. "So the dog was mauling at her hands, which went to her arms, and then it slowly started getting her legs."

Tatiana Roberts, another witness, said she saw the dog bite the woman in the chest and arm and then yank her back and forth.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said the victim remains in serious condition. Police are continuing to investigate the attack.

Police and witnesses believe the dog's owner was unhoused. However, it remains unclear whether the owner lived at a city shelter, transitional housing facility or supportive housing site that would be covered by the proposed regulations.

The attack has prompted District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood to introduce a resolution that would add new dog safety requirements to San Francisco's expanded citywide Good Neighbor Policy. Under the proposal, housing sites that allow pets would be required to maintain registration and vaccination records for dogs. 

The sites would also have to report dog bites and attacks to police and through the Good Neighbor complaint system.

"It's unacceptable," Mahmood said. "Families should be able to walk to and from school without fear of being bitten on the sidewalk."

Mahmood said the proposal is intended to improve safety rather than punish dog owners.

"This isn't about penalizing dog owners," he said. "It's about ensuring every dog owner and every family that walks on our streets feel safe."

City officials said San Francisco recorded 46 reported dog attacks over the past 30 days, including 11 in the Tenderloin. Reported dog bites citywide increased from 931 in 2024 to 1,102 cases last year.

For Adams, however, the issue is more personal than the statistics. She said people who choose to have pets have a responsibility to care for them and protect others from harm.

"When you have an animal, it's just like having a child," Adams said. "If you are incapable of taking care of your animal, it's the same as not being able to take care of your child."

Adams said the city should provide a temporary option for people who are struggling to care for their pets, allowing animals to be housed safely while their owners receive help.

"If they cannot have an animal, there should be a place for the animals to be placed temporarily while they go to rehabilitation," she said. "If they are not able to rehabilitate, the animal should be removed from them."

Adams said people who repeatedly cannot properly care for their pets should not continue acquiring animals.

"Just like we have Child Protective Services, we need Animal Protective Services," she said.

Other Tenderloin residents said they have also felt unsafe around unleashed dogs. Soha Abdou, a senior resident services supervisor with Tenderloin Family Housing, said two residents have been bitten by dogs in the past two years.

"Owners need to be responsible for their pets," Abdou said. "[The proposal is] a good step."

John McCormick was one of those residents. 

"It was about a year ago and I was walking down the street here in the Tenderloin and a dog jumped up and bit me," McCormick said.

Roberts said additional safety requirements would be particularly important for families with children.

"That would be very beneficial to us. I have children. My son walks himself to school," Roberts said. "You can't really blame the dog.  It's not a bad dog, you have bad owners. You have people who can't even care for themselves, let alone a dog."

Mahmood's resolution also calls for sustained funding and staffing for San Francisco's vicious and dangerous dog hearing process. That process was largely suspended for about 10 months this year because of budget and staffing shortages, according to city officials, creating a backlog of cases.

Critics of Mahmood's proposal have raised concerns that additional requirements could create another barrier for unhoused people with pets who are trying to access shelter or housing. They argue that people who are already struggling to care for themselves may also have difficulty maintaining vaccination and registration records for their animals.

The proposal's connection to last week's attack is also not yet clear. While the dog's owner is believed to be homeless, authorities have not established whether the person was living at a housing site that would be subject to the proposed rules.

For Adams, the attack has nevertheless changed how she feels about the neighborhood she calls home.

"Now, I'm terrified," Adams said. "I'm terrified when my son wakes up in the morning [and walks to school], something bad can happen."

She said she believes people and their pets can safely coexist, but that requires owners to take responsibility for the animals in their care.

"I feel that we all just deserve companions," Adams said. "And we have to work for those companions. So if we would like to have an animal, we have to treat the animal the way we would like to be treated."

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the resolution next Tuesday. If approved, enforcement would likely begin next year.