CALIFORNIA -- A dog that killed another dog and bit that animal's owner in North Valencia has been turned over to Los Angeles County Animal Control, a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station official said today.
Sheriff's Sgt. Rich Nagler said the attack occurred Tuesday evening on Summer Grove Place, but no arrests were made or citations issued.
"It appears to be a civil matter," he said. "We would only arrest someone if the owner was purposely setting his dog on someone."
A county Animal Control official said the dog is being quarantined and likely will be euthanized.
"It depends on the incident, but in most cases the animal is quarantined for 10 days," said Evelina Villa, Animal Control spokeswoman. "After that, it most likely won't be adoptable, and you know what that means."
Nagler couldn't confirm the dog in the attack was in fact an American Staffordshire Terrier or an American pit bull terrier, both commonly referred to as pit bulls, but the incident was initially reported as a pit bull attack, he said.
"What usually happens is that everything's fine until it sees the other dog," he said. "I'm guessing the owner was trying to protect his dog when he got bit."
All breeds can be vicious if not treated or trained correctly, Nagler said.
"In the 34 years that I've been doing this, I've seen other breeds that are far more vicious than pit bulls," he said.
(The Signal - Dec 14, 2011)
