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| Lincolnton resident Kris Keener cares for her horse, Joker, who was attacked by two dogs on the morning of Aug. 23. |
Two different dogs attacked Joker Aug. 23 while the female horse was roaming in her pasture off Dan Hood Road. Her injuries this time were more severe: about 100 puncture wounds and 60 stitches.
And property owner Bill Williamson is wondering when the Town of Mint Hill will consider passing a “dangerous dog” ordinance to ensure pet owners are held accountable.
Williamson, 63, suffered a heart attack in his front yard Feb. 1 after a neighbor’s two pit bulls chased and attacked Joker. Police used cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and a portable defibrillator to revive Williamson.
The dogs, 2-year-olds named Hank and Gizmo, were classified as “dangerous” and were euthanized by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control in May.
Mint Hill commissioners decided then not to explore having its own dog ordinance.
“When are you going to say this is serious enough to do something? It’s about time (town officials) need to worry,” Williamson said. “Someone’s got to start taking responsibility to take care of these dogs. Until a person dies then no one is concerned. It’s not an ‘if,’ it’s a ‘when.’ Something needs to be done.”
Williamson said he went searching for Joker after she didn’t come to the barn to be fed about 8 a.m. Tuesday. He found her standing by the pond, bleeding profusely from several deep wounds and saw two dogs, at least one of which was a pit bull, in the pasture with blood on them. He doesn’t know whom the dogs belong to.
Animal Care & Control took more than three hours to respond to his call, he said. When the officer arrived she didn’t know that a horse had been injured, only that dogs were spotted running loose, Williamson said.
That’s frustrating to the family, too.
“Where is Animal Control? Where is this service we’re paying for?” he said.
According to Animal Care & Control records, when Williamson called at about 8:30 a.m. he told dispatchers his horse had been attacked by two dogs but that they were no longer on his property, department spokeswoman Melissa Knicely said. This type of call provides for a four-hour response time, she said. An Animal Control officer arrived about 11:15 a.m. and after talking with Williamson, searched for the dogs until about 2:30 p.m. The officer didn’t find the dogs, but the agency has arranged to set up a dog trap on the property if the dogs return, Knicely said.
‘Every time I turn around, I’m looking for dogs’
A veterinarian had to amputate part of Joker’s ear mauled by the dogs and spent three hours sewing her mangled lip back together, Williamson said. She has bite marks under her thick mane and an open gash on the bottom of her neck that was too big for stitches. The veterinarian prescribed antibiotics and pain medication, in hopes the wound will drain and heal on its own, Williamson said.
Joker belongs to Kris Keener of Lincolnton but the Williamsons have cared for her for more than 30 years. Keener kept vigil with Joker Tuesday and Wednesday.
“What are we going to do with the horse? We can’t sit here 24 (hours a day), seven (days a week),” Williamson said. “Every time I turn around, I’m looking for dogs. We shouldn’t have to live like this.”
Mint Hill Commissioner Lloyd Austin first broached the subject of a “dangerous dog” ordinance after 6-year-old Jakob Clark was mauled by a family member’s pit bull in December. He dropped the idea in April, saying he decided not to push the issue “unless we have another incident.”
But after learning this week about the latest attack, Austin said he feels that Mecklenburg County animal ordinances are sufficient in Mint Hill.
“Honestly, that’s going to be a problem between (Williamson) and the dog owner,” he said. “From everything I’ve been told, (county ordinances) are well enough. I don’t know of anything we should do as a town.”
(Matthews Mind Hill Weekly - August 26, 2011)
