Sparky has the staples to prove it.
His owner says it happened while he was driving to work with the windows down Tuesday morning.
He says the lab jumped up and snatched Sparky right out of his truck and then started violently shaking him.
"And I look in the mirror this man's dog is running down the highway in the opposite direction with my dog in his mouth," said Gene Coulter.
Buddy's owner says he says his dog was just being protective and says it didn't happen the way Coulter described it. Rev. Melvin Bolton says he and Buddy were out for their morning walk at the time.
"When cars come the dog always gets between me and the road," said Rev. Marvin Bolton. "Well as he come by I didn't see how it happened his little dog come out of the truck hit the pavement, bounced and come over there pretty close to me and my dog seen it and he jumped over there and grabbed it."
He says Buddy's been by his side since his wife passed away and insists he's not mean.
"He needed a buddy and I needed a buddy and we just kind of hit it off and we've been a partnership ever since. But has he been in fights with other dogs? Yeah he has," said Bolton.
He also admits that Buddy and another dog are suspected of killing a lady's dog several years ago. In that case he and the other dog owner felt responsible so they split the vet bill, but he doesn't feel responsible for Sparky's bill of more than 400 dollars. He also doesn't think his dog is a threat.
““My dog’s 13 years old,” he said.
"Him and that Buddy several years ago was two that they said killed that lady down there's dog. I paid my half of it. He wasn't in the yard. He wasn't on a leash. I didn't see him do it. But this one I was standing there when the dog come out of the truck," said Bolton. "He come by about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and says I need to talk to you about how you're going to pay for my dog. I says what? 'I've got a 400 dollar vet bill and you're going to have to pay for it.' I says, I don' t think so."
Gene Coulter says the video he shot Thursday morning tells a different story.
"This dog comes running out, charging my truck again," said Coulter.
He said he is certain that the attack happened just the way he described.
"Because there are marks on the door where you can clearly see where this dog jumped up and clawed the side of my truck," said Coulter.
Coulter still bears the scars from a dog attack that happened when he was nine years old. He says it was a German Shepherd that he used to play with many times.
“But it had had puppies and I didn’t know it,” said Coulter.
"You know when you have small children you just can't afford to have a dog like this around you," said Coulter.
Gene Coulter says he filed a report with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and contacted animal control.
Marvin Bolton says he has nothing to hide. However, he says he may use a leash from now on when walking his dog.
“Because of this I will, but I hate too, he's a dog and you got squirrels, you got rabbits, you got everything…and come up on the road. They run across the road. There's acreage out here. I've got seven acres out here,” said Bolton.
“This guy and his truck…he say he don't have it, but he has some kind of little apparatus and it sounds like dogs barking and they get up there about where the dogs would be out there and they'd start the dogs barking and rev his truck up with his loud mufflers and he'll speed up and the dogs will chase him, My old dog seldom even bothered with him. He got used to him.
"But on this morning day before yesterday there’s four of the neighbors dogs and down there where those bushes are. My dog had stopped to use the bathroom in those bushes,” said Bolton. “He always gets between me and the road.”
Bolton says he lets his great granddaughter sleep on Buddy inside the house. He said the dog is not dangerous to children.
(WIAT - Nov 8, 2012)
