She didn't have to look out the window. It had all happened before. Instead, she screamed for her husband who ran up from the basement and out the door to the street.
When Dewey peeked outside, she saw a gruesome scene. A tiny white dog was the rope in a tug of war. One dog grabbed the Havanese dog by its throat, another grabbed it thigh. The small dog's owner, Laura Coburn, looked on, screaming.
"They were pulling it like a rag doll. It looked like they were going to pull it in half," Dewey said.
Dewey's husband ran straight for the large dogs and started punching them, according to the police report. The animals dropped the smaller dog, and all three dogs ran away. Coburn tried to follow her injured dog, Tellulah, and found her at home waiting at the back door.
Tellulah got 60 stitches on her neck, back and stomach. Her jugular was grazed, and her stomach was ripped open, according to Laura Coburn's husband, David. The dog "may not survive," Clackamas County sheriff's deputy Robert Stewart wrote in his report.
Brian Boyd, who lives with the large dogs, found Laura Coburn and apologized. He asked her to send the vet bill to him. It wasn't the first vet bill he's paid. The two dogs on 140th Place Drive in Happy Valley have been involved in a string of incidents.
On Wednesday morning, the dogs' owners, Brian Boyd, 54, and his son, Benjamin Boyd, 23, appeared in Happy Valley municipal court on charges of having dogs at large and endangering an animal. Both men pleaded guilty and will return to court July 17 for a hearing to determine sentencing and what to do with the animals.
"Please let us keep our dogs," Benjamin Boyd begged of municipal court Judge Larry Blake. "These dogs are my life."
Benjamin Boyd held pictures of the younger dog, Luna, a 3-year-old bull mastiff - pit bull mix sniffing noses with another dog and a picture of his 7-year-old box / pit bull terrier Boomer wearing a sweatshirt.
"I have no excuse for the actions of my dogs, but I can prevent it from happening again," Benjamin Boyd said.
Blake ordered that the two dogs held at the county animal shelter for two weeks.
After the hearing, Benjamin Boyd said in an interview that he's had both dogs since they were five weeks old and that they are normally obedient and friendly, especially Luna.
Last November a police report details a similar attack, although Benjamin Boyd said Boomer and a friend's dog – not Luna – were involved in that one.
Donald Bakeman, 72, was walking his [Australian] Kelpie down 140th Place when one of the bigger dogs came out. Bakeman kept walking, but soon the other dog came out.
"One had waited for the other and then they attacked him and his dog," a police report stated.
"Bakeman told me he went to the ground in the gravel. Mr. Bakeman said he threw rocks at the dogs and they finally ran away."
Fearing the dogs, Dewey said she got into her car and went to Bakeman. Bakeman and his dog, both covered in blood, got into her car and she drove them home. Bakeman wasn't seriously injured, but his dog needed surgery.
"Why should these neighbors have fear walking past your property?" asked Judge Blake. "For two weeks the neighbors will have no fear about these dogs getting out."
(Oregon Live - July 07, 2013)
MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF COMPLAINTS:
January 2010 – One of the Boyds' dogs reported loose. Owners receive a warning.
July 2010 – Dogs reported "being aggressive toward passersby." Happy Valley issues a warning but finds no violation
August 2010 – "One dog ran off the property and bit a dog," according to complaint.
November 2012 – Dogs reportedly knock down Donald Bakeman, 72, and bite his dog. Boyds fined $3,000, ordered to pay vet bills and serve 24 months probation.
June 2013 – Boyds' dogs attack and severely injure another dog. Disposition pending.
Source: Happy Valley code enforcement records
