"I saw a shadow and the next moment, my dog was in the air," McClure said. "She was screaming because of the pain. It was horrible. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
The larger Rottweiler had its mouth clamped on McClure's dog and was shaking the 13-pound terrier in the air, she said. When she grabbed her dog away, she said, she was bitten, both on the mouth by her frightened terrier and on her left hand by the other dog.
The attack, which occurred at about 9 p.m. July 2 near the entrance to the park, has left McClure's 7-year-old terrier, Alegria, with her back legs paralyzed. McClure, who is unemployed, is trying to raise money for a spinal cord operation, estimated to cost about $7,000, that she said needs to be done soon for Alegria.
Maui Humane Society animal control officers are investigating the attack, said Marty Davis, director of field operations for the agency.
While not speaking specifically about McClure's case, he said that typically, citations for a leash law violation and dog attack could be issued against the owner when a dog is loose and off the owner's property and attacks another animal or person.
McClure said she was told this week by the investigating animal control officer that those two citations would be issued for the attack on her dog.
A first-time leash law violation carries a minimum $50 fine, with penalties increasing for subsequent violations. A dog attack citation requires the owner to appear in court, where fines and possibly restitution could be ordered by a judge.
Davis said the humane society investigates five to 15 cases a month of reported dog attacks. The cases include attacks on people and on other animals, at times resulting in injury or even death, as well as instances where there aren't injuries, he said. For example, a dog might charge toward a person or animal, creating a potential danger or might harass a neighbor's horses, Davis said.
"We have had cases where dogs have killed other animals," he said. "It's not as common that dogs go out and kill, but it happens."
Davis said the leash law is intended for the safety of dogs, as well as other animals and people. "It protects the animal. It protects the public. It protects the person who owns the animal," he said.
"It's the saddest thing when we have to go out and pick up a dog because it got hit by a car in the middle of the night because somebody thinks it's cruel to keep their dog properly restrained," Davis said.
While people often call police to report a leash law violation or dog attack, Davis recommended that people also call the humane society to report the violations so an investigation can begin sooner.
Police pass on reports to the society, but that may not occur for a few days, he said.
He also recommended that people report animal control problems as they happen. "Don't let issues with your neighbor's dogs build up over years and then say this has been going on for 10 years," Davis said. "Let us know when problems occur. At least we will have a record."
Davis said the agency hasn't received many complaints about loose dogs at Baldwin Beach Park, although there have been problems at all beaches over the years.
McClure said that before last week, she hadn't been attacked by a dog at the Paia park, where she is caretaker of a feral cat colony. Usually accompanied by Alegria, she has fed cats there since last July, when she heard kittens mewing in the bushes.
She said she usually goes to the area in the evening when the cats are more likely to be out.
The night Alegria was attacked, McClure said, she was in the park and heard a dog barking inside a fence of a residence adjacent to the park. She said she was talking to the owner about how it could be dangerous for the dog to be loose when another dog from the residence suddenly appeared outside the fence and bit Alegria, who was on a leash.
After spending five days at an Upcountry veterinarian's office following the attack, Alegria went home with McClure on Thursday. She is receiving pain medicine and antibiotics.
And thanks to Sylvan Schwab, executive director of the nonprofit East Maui Animal Shelter, Alegria also has a wheelchair that allows her to get around, despite her paralyzed back legs, McClure said.
She said she adopted Alegria, whose name means happiness in Spanish, at Christmas two years ago. She went to the Maui Humane Society and asked for the "longest-staying dog."
"That was a Christmas gift for both of us," McClure said.
McClure and Alegria have been weekly visitors to The Maui News, where employees keep dog biscuits in anticipation of Alegria's visits.
"She has a willingness to live," McClure said. "She knows she can make it. That's why she started eating, she started drinking."
While Alegria is mobile in the wheelchair, she is in pain while she's being put into and taken out of the device, Schwab said. He said an Oahu veterinarian is the only one in the state who performs the specific spinal surgery that Alegria needs.
He said the refuge, also known as the Boo Boo Zoo, had a dog that received the same surgery several years ago and was later adopted by a woman in Lahaina. "The dog is still running around and uses a wheelchair," he said.
Schwab said the East Maui Animal Refuge will accept tax-deductible donations that givers can designate to go toward the cost of Alegria's surgery. People can mail donations to the East Maui Animal Refuge at 25 Maluaina Place, Haiku 96703 or call Schwab at 572-8308.
McClure has been a volunteer for the refuge's educational program.
(Maui News - July 9, 2011)
