HAWAII -- Maui County Animal Control Board members decided Wednesday to keep in place confinement requirements for a pit bull that was deemed dangerous after attacking a woman in an Olinda pine forest, denying an appeal by owner Nadia Toraman to allow the dog to be unmuzzled on her property.
Toraman also had asked that upstairs windows of her two-story residence be exempted from requirements to install extra-secure wire screening or keep windows closed while her dog Kona is confined in her residence.
"After careful consideration, we feel we should keep the condition on Kona as is, as of right now," said board Vice Chairman Allan Almeida, who presided over the meeting in the Parks and Recreation conference room at the War Memorial Gym complex.
He said Toraman could again appeal the dangerous dog designation in one year.
The Maui Humane Society deemed the pit bull dangerous after reports of the attack at about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at Waihou Springs State Forest Reserve at the top of Olinda Road. Upcountry resident Kathy Munsen was hiking in the forest with her 5 1/2-pound Pomeranian puppy, Bijoux, when she saw the unleashed pit bull and yelled for the dog to be put on a leash.
"The dog came charging up the hill," Munsen told the board Wednesday.
She said a girl came up the hill, saw what was happening and ran down to tell others. "She said, 'The dog is eating the woman,' and that's why they all ran up," Munsen said.
"Had they not run up to help me, I could have died because the dog would have eventually tipped me over and gone for my neck. It's the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me."
Munsen was holding her puppy up to keep it from being attacked when the pit bull bit Munsen's arms, which have scars after she received more than a dozen stitches on each arm to treat her injuries.
"I'm terrified to go in the forest," she said. "It's my favorite thing to do; now I can't go."
Munsen said her dog also has been traumatized by what happened.
She presented the board with a letter from Victoria Kray describing two earlier incidents involving Toraman's dog. In one case, Kray and her dog had to run into a house to escape as Kona charged toward them in Kuau near Toraman's yoga shala, Munsen said, and in another case, the pit bull ran after a skateboarder who ran to safety into a restaurant in Paia.
Maui Humane Society animal control officer Mani White said the incidents were reported to the agency only after the Aug. 2 attack.
Toraman said Kona was 5 or 6 months old and "still getting to know the world" when the incident involving the skateboarder occurred.
She said she had wanted to take Kona to dog training and started right after the Olinda attack.
Scott Sanchez, owner and president of Sit Means Sit Dog Training Hawaii, recommended a 60-day probation period in the dangerous dog case. He told the board that Toraman and Kona had completed a 16-day program and were continuing with regular follow-up sessions.
Sanchez played a 90-second video taken Oct. 4 showing Kona, muzzled and on a loose leash, not reacting to a smaller dog nearby.
"In all instances where she was with us and with a multitude of small dogs through the training, she did not exhibit aggression," Sanchez said. "But it doesn't mitigate the fact that it's a prey-drive dog."
He said the female dog is 13-1/2 months old and weighs approximately 55 pounds.
Referring to the three rules to contain, restrain and train a dog with a history of biting, Sanchez said, "Nadia has complied with all those things, to the best of my knowledge."
"When you have a prey-driven dog, you absolutely have to restrain or contain it," he said. "No dog that has a history will ever truly be fixed. Every single dog has a capability to bite. The only difference is the consequence is greater when you have a bigger breed.
"As a dog owner, you have to take full responsibility for it every minute of the day. It's a huge responsibility when you have a dog.
"The most important thing is Nadia has complied. She has admitted complete fault and knows it was naive of her and irresponsible of her. So far, everything has been good."
Toraman had asked to be allowed to take her dog unmuzzled into her yard in Haiku to pee or play. She said there's a garage and an overhead runner in the small yard. "I'm planning to fence it," she said.
White said the Maui Humane Society had no recommendation on Toraman's appeal.
The dangerous dog designation requires that the dog be confined to the owner's home in a closed structure or kept outside in a locked, fenced-in area that's fully enclosed to prevent escape.
When outdoors, the dog must be muzzled, with someone 18 years or older, and kept on a leash no more than 3 feet long and with tensile strength of 300 pounds.
White said monthly checks on compliance with dangerous dog requirements would be done "for the rest of the dog's life."
She said the dog would be confiscated and taken to the Maui Humane Society if there were another dog attack, pending a court hearing.
Toraman asked if Kona still would be under dangerous dog restrictions if she were taken to another island.
White said that if it was outside Maui County, the dog wouldn't remain under the county dangerous dog law. She said it would be the owner's responsibility to notify a new owner.
"Should that dog go someplace else and injure someone someplace else, I think you have responsibility," Munsen's attorney, Anthony Takitani, told the board. "I'm just pointing out you're on notice."
"That's why I'm trying to make her a good dog, so she stays here," Toraman said.
Toraman was cited for a leash law violation and the dog attack.
During an appearance Tuesday in Wailuku District Court, she pleaded guilty to the dog bite charge, with the prosecution dismissing the leash law violation citation. Judge Kelsey Kawano sentenced Toraman to a $100 fine and restitution, to be determined when she returns to court Dec. 6.
(Maui News - Oct 13, 2011)
Earlier:
Attack victim: "Dog was chewing my arms"
