Portland woman's dog killed, another injured in pit bull attack -- but says she "doesn't blame the breed"

OREGON -- A Portland woman is heartbroken after her two dogs were attacked by a pit bull and one of them died.

 Terri Walker said it happened when she was taking both of her dogs out to the fenced dog area behind her north Portland apartment building.

 She was standing in the open gate when a pit bull jumped out of a nearby parked car and ran in.

“The pit bull came around, my two dogs were right here, it picked up my little dog, shook it and brought it over here and had it trapped in this corner,” Walker showed Fox 12.

  

  

 

 She said she tried to protect her little dog, Almond Joy, but the pit bull tried biting her head then turned its attention toward her other dog, Mounds.

“I had my little dog in my arms and he was bleeding and I kept screaming, ‘Somebody help me, get the dog, get the dog,'” she explained.

 Almond Joy didn't survive.

 Mounds suffered three puncture wounds in the attack and is now on three prescriptions and will require future care which Walker can't afford.

 Walker said the pit bull involved is owned by the family of someone living in her same complex.

A spokesperson for Multnomah County Animal Control told Fox 12 it is investigating the attack and has tentatively identified the owner of the aggressive dog.

 Because it attacked and killed another animal, the pit bull will be labeled a “level 4 potentially dangerous dog,” which means it will be required to be kept in an enclosure at all times, be muzzled when out of the enclosure, be on a leash, be micro chipped and its owners will be required to post a sign at their home notifying people a vicious dog lives there.

 If the 2-year restrictions are broken,  the dog could become the property of the county.

Walker said as a former pit bull owner herself, she doesn't blame the dog involved or the breed, but wants its owners to be accountable.

Oh god, why did she have to say that???

“I don't want the dog to die,” she said.  “But I want the people to be responsible.  It's not the dog, it's the person who owns the dog, it's their responsibility.”

If you'd like to help, Walker suggested making donations in Almond Joy's name to the Heartfelt Clinic on NE Broadway, where Mounds was treated.

(KPTV.com - Jan 23, 2015)