Counties keep loose leash on bad dogs

by Peter Zuckerman, The Oregonian

Saturday December 13, 2008, 8:46 PM

Rob Finch/The OregonianDebbie Dutton says the most dangerous thing about her family’s Great Danes is their tails, which wag so hard they knock glasses off tables.

Pamela Walker saw two Great Danes galloping toward her, snarling and barking, as she walked Sophie, her long-haired dachshund.

The 52-year-old grandmother scooped up Sophie and hunched forward as one of the big dogs rammed into her. It clamped onto the dachshund’s head and body and tried to yank Sophie away. Walker won the tug of war, with bites to her right wrist, left hand and chest.

Sophie had it worse, requiring $6,000 in veterinary care to mend injuries, including a broken rib and punctured lung.

The August 2007 encounter east of Sandy wasn’t the first time the Great Danes, Harley and Angel, attacked — and it wouldn’t be the last. Despite Clackamas County’s policy of taking menacing dogs into custody until a hearing determines whether they can be safely returned to owners, the dogs were never impounded — not even after another attack three months later.

As another wave of dog attacks ripples through the media — including recent maulings of children in Happy Valley, Madras and Vancouver — people terrorized by aggressive dogs are asking local officials to crack down on repeat offenders.

By state law, biting dogs are quarantined for 10 days, but they can be held at their owners’ homes.

Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties allow most dogs that bite people to stay with their owners, depending on the severity of the attacks and factors such as whether the dogs are neutered, trained, microchipped, licensed and securely enclosed and whether the owners seem cooperative and responsible.

In Clackamas County dog services manager Diana Hallmark says that with just 32 runs to handle the county’s entire population of lost, abandoned and unwanted dogs, her department lacks the space to take in every menacing dog.

The only way to make room for them, Hallmark said, would be to euthanize shelter dogs that otherwise might find good homes.

“We want to save as many animals as possible,” she said.

The first time the Great Danes on Southeast Baty Road drew blood, Patricia Jean Meadows was picking up trash for an adopt-a-road program. Meadows said the dogs — three or four Great Danes — charged toward her. One of them clamped onto her left hand and then her right forearm. She didn’t escape until their owner, Debbie Dutton, called them off.

After taking Meadows’ report, animal control workers visited Dutton and told her to keep better control of her pets.

“The county was like, whatever, just don’t let it happen again,” Dutton said. “It wasn’t a big deal. They asked us not to let the dogs off the property for 10 days.”

After the second attack, the one on Walker and her dachshund, Sophie, Dutton said she was fined about $150 and told to improve her fence. Dutton also agreed to pay $6,000 in veterinary fees to settle a civil suit and to make more improvements to her fence.

About three months after the second attack, the dogs attacked a third time.

Meadows, 57, who was once again picking up trash, said Angel and Harley came charging toward her. Fortunately, Meadows said, she was able to fight them off with pepper spray and help from her husband. “I think they might have killed me if I hadn’t been prepared,” she said.

After the third incident, the Duttons said they were fined about $200. Their insurance company required them to give Angel away to keep their homeowners policy, but the county allowed them to keep Harley and the rest of their dogs.

“I was furious,” Meadows said. “How is it that dogs can attack three times, and all the owner gets is fined a couple hundred bucks? And it takes an insurance company — not the county — to get rid of them? That’s outrageous.”

Meadows’ experience is typical.

Of more than 1,200 bite investigations in the tri-county Portland area last year, many of them involving repeat offenders, just seven dogs were declared dangerous.

If Harley and Angel have a danger, it’s their tails, which wag so hard they knock glasses off tables, Dutton said. They couldn’t be more lovable and cuddly.

“The dogs are our children,” she said. “How would you like it if your county or your insurance said you have to give your children away?”

Her pets would never intentionally bite someone, she said, unless they were provoked or misinterpreted human behavior. The attack victims don’t know how to handle themselves around animals and exaggerated what happened, she said.

After each attack, Dutton improved her fences, keeping the dogs near the house. Now it would be impossible for them to escape, she said.

“There would be no reason to take them to a shelter.”

Few counties have mandatory impoundment laws, and there’s a reason for this, said Robert Babcock, a Lake Oswego lawyer who defends pet owners. For people who love their animals and can take care of them, it’s a waste of taxpayer money and bad for the dogs.

Clackamas County officials offered roughly the same reasoning for allowing owners who have a secure enclosure to keep aggressive dogs. Although the county dog shelter will expand next year, Hallmark said she will try to change the county codes so menacing dogs can stay with owners who pay their fines and agree to conditions to safely keep their animals.

Tim Vanagas, a plaintiffs attorney in the Great Danes case and others, says it’s time for county officials to put some teeth in their animal-control policies.

He noted that if a dog attacks a child in a public space in Clackamas County, a hearings process is required before the county can take action.

But if a dog attacks a chicken, it’s a different story.

As Clackamas County’s code puts it, if a dog sneaks off the owner’s property and attacks farm animals, “such a dog is a public nuisance and may be killed immediately by any person.”

– Peter Zuckerman; peterzuckerman@news.oregonian.com