Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said Animal Control Officer Jessica Eibs-Stankaitis was walking the dog, a male pit bull, from the outside pen area to the inside pens when he suddenly attacked her, Hegermiller said.
“She got injured rather badly,” he said. “She had a laceration under her left eye, and I don’t know the extent of the injuries to her hip, but that’s where the dog latched on, to her hip.”
“It was a struggle to get the dog off,” Chief Hegermiller said. “A kennel attendant tried to use a [catch] pole to get the dog off, and that didn’t work.
“I have no idea how long the struggle lasted. All I know is that the kennel attendant was not able to get the dog off, she ran inside to call 911, and when she came back out, the dog was still on.”
The ACO (Ms. Eibs-Stankaitis) was able to slip a [catch] pole over the dogs head to get it off of her.
The dog had been found abandoned in a crate on Grumman Boulevard near Wading River-Manor Road earlier this week, Hegermiller said.
Eibs-Stankaitis, 40, was appointed to the position of animal control officer in February.
The dog was placed in isolation and will remain there for the duration of a "10-day bite hold" Hegermiller said. The dog will be put down at the end of the 10-day period, the chief said.
Chief Hegermiller, whose department oversees the animal control office, said he can’t recall any previous instances where a town animal control officer was mauled by a dog in the shelter.
“We’ve had dog wardens get bitten before, I don’t think we’ve ever had one mauled,” he said.
(Riverhead Local - Oct 26, 2012)
