Two dogs escaped a yard in a Washington state neighborhood last week, injuring several people. Five people reported dog bites and the dogs also killed a cat.
The dogs, a boxer and a pitbull terrier, had previous run-ins with the town’s animal services division and authorities deemed them “potentially dangerous.” The dogs somehow left their yard and rampaged around the neighborhood.
They attacked one man at around 6:30 in the morning, charging him from across the street. The dogs bit him several times on his back and legs before another person was able to chase them away. The man called the police to report the incident.
Responding police officers found the dogs easily enough but were unable to capture them. One of the dogs bit an officer on the leg. The officer used a taser to chase it away and both dogs fled. The officers tracked the dogs and found them again just as one dog attacked and killed a cat. The dogs ran from the officers again.
While the officers continued searching for the dogs, the animals attacked a woman as she was walking into work from her car. After this third attack, the police used a PA announcement to warn the neighborhood.
The officers finally cornered the dogs again and tased the pitbull terrier to death while trying to capture it. The boxer got away again and the police followed it back to its owners home. Police impounded it.
After the capture, other victims told police that the dogs had attacked them during the morning as well. Neither person received serious injuries.
While it’s not clear whether the dog’s owner will face charges, the police are still investigating the attacks. In dog bite cases, a common important question is whether the owner knew that the animals had dangerous propensities. Cases like this illustrate why: if the owner here knew that the dogs had attacked in the past, the owner probably had a good reason to make certain that they could not escape from the yard again.
Source: My Everett News, “5 Attacked by Dangerous Dogs in North Everett,” Aug. 27, 2012