Councilman suffered multiple lacerations after being attacked by a mastiff

CALIFORNIA -- Lake Elsinore City Councilman Brian Tisdale is recovering after being attacked by a large mastiff while jogging in his neighborhood Thursday night.

Tisdale suffered multiple lacerations and was taken to an area hospital for treatment. The animal – a breed of mastiff known as a Cane Corso – is being kept in quarantine at the Southwest Communities Animal Shelter in Wildomar.

Tisdale said he went for a run at about 5:30 p.m. in his south Lake Elsinore community when a neighbor’s pet – estimated to be about 150 pounds – got loose from a 10-year-old boy who was holding the dog’s leash.

“I came down the street and I just think because it was dark, he bolted, dragging the 10-year-old behind him and (the dog) grabbed my arm,” Tisdale said.

He said the attack left him bleeding profusely and that he initially thought his arm was broken. He called 911 on his cellphone.

While he was waiting for the emergency responders, Tisdale said, the parents who own the dog wrapped up his arm to stanch the bleeding.

He was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was treated for five lacerations and released.

Animal control officials will hold the mastiff for 10 days to check for rabies.

Shelter Executive Director Willa Bagwell said that if this is the animal’s first biting incident, it would not require euthanization.

“The law says if there’s been two incidents, he has to be deemed potentially dangerous,” she said. “I don’t think we have any priors on this dog.”

She said, however, that officers would consult the family to ensure the dog can be kept securely on their property and would advise them against allowing a young child to control the animal.

“My only concern is ... if this had been an elderly person or a child, I’m sure it would have been much more severe,” Bagwell said.

Tisdale said he has seen the dog interact in a friendly manner with both children and adults in the past and he does not want the dog to be put down.

“This is a dog that I see every day out there with kids of all ages,” he said. “I just think it was the darkness and the movement, and he was probably protecting the 10-year-old. ... If you’ve got a 150-pound dog and a 10-year-old, the 150-pound’s going to win.”

The incident occurred just two days after Tisdale was re-elected to the council. It will be his second-four year term.

Tisdale, 52, is a program director with Riverside County’s emergency preparedness division. He is the City Council’s representative to the Southwest Communities Financing Authority, which oversees the animal shelter’s funding and administration.

(Press-Enterprise - Nov 8, 2014)