Talk about a heartbreaking, nightmarish scenario. A Katy family returned home to find its three beloved dogs dead in the backyard. The family pets were swarmed and killed by a horde of bees.

Koda (an Australian shepherd), Rocco (a shorthair) and Guss (a black lab) all died at the scene. Each dog had suffered hundreds of bee stings.

Cathy Manuel came back from a trip to the store and found all three of her dogs lying dead. After contacting animal control, the dogs were removed and multiple hives were discovered on a rock wall that borders the Woodcreek Estates neighborhood.

The next step was for a professional beekeeper to remove the hives and survey the damage. Upon collection of the colony, he discovered a hole in the wall that was home to easily 80,000 more bees. Samples of the honeycomb were collected and sent to a laboratory at Texas A&M University for further testing, mainly to see if these bees were Africanized, aka Killer Bees.

This is a type of bee that was accidently released in 1957 in Brazil, created from cross-breeding in an attempt to produce more honey. They are known for taking over all kinds of colonies and thriving in warm temperatures, such as Houston in the summer. The sting of an Africanized bee is actually no more dangerous than any regular Honey Bee. What is harmful is that they are more easily provoked, quicker to swarm and attack in greater numbers.

Although the attack happened in Katy, this should be a wake up call for property owners alike to take a sweep through their backyard and examine fences and surrounding areas for possible bee colonies.