WASHINGTON -- A Kelso man suffered wounds to his groin and hand when four German shepherds attacked him in the wee hours last Sunday morning at the same South Kelso home where two other dogs mauled a woman in November.
Assisted by Kelso police, the Humane Society impounded the dogs Tuesday night and placed them in 10-day quarantine. Their owner, Ingrid Sacha, 43, faces an initial fine of $1,542 for not licensing six of her seven dogs, according to animal control supervisor Mike Nicholson.
At this point, all seven of Sacha's German Shepherds have attacked people. The Humane Society declared two of them "potentially dangerous" after November's mauling, but a legal glitch resulted in the case's dismissal.
Nicholson said as soon as the four dogs involved in last week's attack are released from quarantine, he will issue a "potentially dangerous" declaration for all seven of Sacha's dogs. The legal term requires the dog owner to meet several conditions within 72 hours to prevent the animal from being impounded and destroyed.
According to Nicholson, Bryan Silva went to Sacha's house at 809 Elm St. after midnight Saturday and knocked on the door. Someone in the house opened it, and four dogs lunged outside and attacked him on the porch, Nicholson said.
Silva, who is in his 30s, was treated at the hospital for his injuries. He did not return a reporter's phone calls requesting a comment.
Silva told the Humane Society that Sacha called the dogs off him, but Sacha denies being at the house, Nicholson said.
"Conflicting stories. No one knows who did what," he said, adding that Silva hasn't cooperated with the Humane Society's investigation following his initial report.
A similar attack happened at the home Nov. 15, when two of Sacha's dogs, Marley and Lug, attacked a neighbor who walked into Sacha's house carrying cups of coffee. The dogs bit Elizabeth Elders, 49, on the thighs and face, inflicting deep puncture wounds.
Both dogs have bitten people before, and Sacha has racked up thousands of dollars in citations for the animals. The dogs involved in last week's attack were Zoey and her 1-year-old pups, Madison, Abbey and Sadie. Nicholson wasn't sure which dogs did the biting, but he impounded all of them. No previous bites have been reported for those four dogs.
The Daily News has been unable to reach Sacha for comment.
After November's attack on Elders, the Humane Society released Marley and Lug from 10-day quarantine and declared them "potentially dangerous." Sacha had 72 hours to outfit Marley and Lug with orange DANGEROUS DOG collars, get them microchipped and pay the $100 annual fee per dog to list them on the dangerous dog registry.
To meet the court's threshold for "dangerous," a dog must kill a domesticated animal or human or inflict severe injury without provocation, or attack someone after being designated "potentially dangerous," Nicholson said. Dangerous dogs cost $250 a year to register and must be contained in a padlocked kennel when outdoors. Their owner must post DANGEROUS DOG signs on the property and buy $250,000 in additional homeowners' insurance coverage, he said.
Sacha missed the 72-hour deadline, and the Humane Society confiscated the dogs again. Sacha prevented Marley and Lug's euthanasia by filing an appeal of their "potentially dangerous" label in court.
However, also in November, the state Court of Appeals decided that certain parts of animal control ordinances that declared dogs dangerous or potentially dangerous were unconstitutional for complex legal reasons. The Humane Society requested the court dismiss its case against Sacha and released Marley and Lug to Sacha in late January.
In February, the Kelso City Council revised the city's ordinance to comply with the reworked state law, which says pet owners can't be charged a fee for their initial appeal of the dangerous dog declaration. Now that the legal matters have been cleared up, the Humane Society can declare Marley and Lug potentially dangerous without waiting for them to bite anyone again, Nicholson said.
When the four dogs who attacked Silva are out of quarantine, Nicholson will declare them potentially dangerous, along with a fifth dog, Cowboy, who bit a mail carrier last year. Cowboy and Marley also are accused tearing a leg off a neighbor's dog in 2008, when Sacha lived in Silver Lake. Lug bit a woman on the arm in 2010.
"They all have bitten. It's time for them to be all declared (potentially dangerous) and let the courts figure it out," said Nicholson, who plans to issue the potentially dangerous designation to all seven dogs at once.
"I want people to know that we're trying our damndest to do what the ordinance says," he said, adding that he would prefer Sacha take the dogs out of Cowlitz County "to save my time and the court's time."
Anyone who's been bitten by the dogs is urged to notify the Humane Society, Nicholson said. The number is 360-577-0151.
(The Daily News Online - March 24, 2012)
