ARIZONA -- A dog is in quarantine after it bit a child on Friday and its owner could not provide proof of current rabies vaccination.
Prescott Valley Animal Control Supervisor Robin Petrovsky said that on Friday evening, a pit bull dog escaped its house in the 4900 block of Carla Vista when the owner opened the door. The dog ran into an adjacent vacant lot where a young boy was playing, and grabbed the child's leg. The bite was not a puncture wound, Petrovsky said, but it did break the skin and draw blood, requiring the quarantine of the dog.
A neighbor said he was doing yard work when he saw the dog dart through a partial fence and attack the child. The neighbor said the child screamed, he yelled, and the child's father, who was across the street, ran toward the boy. The neighbor said the owner called the dog and it went immediately home.
Petrovsky said the owner of the dog told her she had been keeping the dog inside because neighbors did not like it. She said the property was not fully fenced, but did contain a kennel and chain for the dog.
Because the owner could not produce proof of current vaccinations, the animal had to be quarantined off the premises rather than at its home, Petrovsky said. She said the owner was cooperative after Animal Control told her she must surrender the dog for quarantine.
Petrovsky said two neighbors on the street, including the child's mother, told her the dog in Friday's incident is often loose, and one woman said the dog had chased her, but Prescott Valley Police said they have no record of calls about the animal. She encouraged people who have such a problem to call dispatch and report the incident to establish a record.
She stressed that people need to report the incident to dispatch rather than to ACO officers' personal voicemails, because the officers are usually out on the streets and can respond immediately if they are dispatched.
Petrovsky said she would submit Friday's incident to the town's attorney for review under Prescott Valley's vicious dog ordinance. If a dog is determined vicious, the town can require the owner to carry additional insurance, and require special fencing or enclosure to contain the animal. In extreme circumstances, the town can remove the dog. However, she said, one bite is usually not enough for a dog to be declared vicious, because "accidents can happen, depending on the situation."
If the dog in Friday's incident is healthy after 10 days in quarantine, it may return home, Petrovsky said, but the owner will be cited and fined in accordance with dog at large and dog bite ordinances, and will have to pay for current vaccinations and boarding while in quarantine.
(Daily Courier - May 7, 2013)
