"I was hoping to save them, especially for my kids," said Tasha Wallace, owner of the two pit bull dogs. "I didn't want them to be put down.
Wallace was cited on two counts of not having proper city and rabies tags for her 5-year-old pets and two counts of animals running loose. She appeared Wednesday before Municipal Court Judge John Rosson and pleaded no contest to all charges.
Wallace and Knoxville Police Department Animal Control Officer Tracey Berry testified in the case. None of the bite victims showed in court.
Rosson noted Wallace had two prior tag violations before his court. Berry told Rosson she recommended a fine in the case because of the injuries involved.
Wallace had documents to show she had the dogs inoculated for rabies, but that protection expired in November.
Rosson opted to dismiss the city and rabies tags citations.
"I dismissed it because she can't buy the tags," Rosson said after the hearing. "She corrected the problem by surrendering the dogs."
Wallace's surrendering of the dogs allows the animals to be euthanized.
TASHA WALLACE IN DENIAL
"They will euthanize them because they're bite dogs, not because they're pit bull dogs," Berry said.
The single, unemployed mother of two children said she sought aid from a local pit bull rescue organization, but the group declined to help because the dogs were involved in biting people. The dogs had belonged to her ex-boyfriend. She kept the dogs when the relationship ended.
Rosson levied $50 fines for each of the citations for animals running loose. Wallace also will have to pay court costs of $64.50 on each citation.
Wallace told Rosson she had gone to the store when the attacks occurred about 4:30 p.m. April 28, so she didn't witness the incident. Neighbors told her it began when James Hill, 54, of Boyd Street, stopped near Wallace's fence at 1302 Baxter Ave. while walking his dog. Berry said Hill stopped to speak to Wallace's neighbor, who was in her backyard.
Wallace said she thinks the proximity of Hill's dog to her fence caused her 50-pound pit bulls to climb over the chain link fence and attack his dog. Hill drove one of the pit bull dogs away, but the second one continued the attack and Hill was bitten on his hands while trying to stop the fight. Berry deemed Hill's injuries as "not bad."
With the help of a neighbor, Hill got a leash on the attacking dog. The dog, however, chewed through the leash and attacked Selena Jones, 42, of Iredell Avenue. Neighbors pulled the pit bull dog off Jones.
Berry told Rosson that Jones sustained a serious injury to her arm that required stitches.
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| "They've never attacked anybody, I think this was just a misunderstanding of people trying to get in between a dog fight" - pit bull owner, Tasha Wallace |
The third attack occurred when one of the pit bull dogs entered a neighbor's yard on Iredell Avenue.
When Ollie Messer, 55, tried to get the pit bull off his dog, he sustained bite wounds.
The trio of victims were treated at a hospital and released.
Wallace said she spent about 45 minutes Tuesday with Diamond and Reverse at the Young-Williams Animal Center.
"I had a bad day," she said as tears welled in her eyes. "It's just a tragedy that it happened."
(Knoxville News Sentinel - May 10, 2012)
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