TENNESSEE -- It’s been more than three years since Lobo has been on Montgomery County’s Dangerous Dogs List.
But that certainly doesn’t mean he has been behaving, neighbors on Teakwood Drive say. They say the Alaskan Malamute has attacked two other dogs since killing Christi Rodriguez’s cat in August 2009.
On Tuesday, Rodriguez helped pull Lobo off her neighbor’s mixed-breed dog, Tubby, and then held the blood-covered Malamute until Clarksville police arrived only to hand the dog back over to its owner.
Both Rodriguez and Tubby’s owner, Kerri Bishop, say not enough is being done to protect the dogs and children in their Pondiwood subdivision from a dog they say doesn’t deserve another chance.
“Those dogs should have been taken from there before,” said Rodriquez, who watched helplessly as her cat, Isis, was killed by Lobo in 2009. “They are running loose and attacking pets.”
Montgomery County Animal Control Director Jeanette Farrell said animal control officers are doing everything they can under the law. She said Lobo and another dog, which no longer lives with Lobo’s owners, were on the Dangerous Dogs List from February 2010 to August of 2011, when they were removed.
Under Montgomery County’s statute, dangerous dogs are only on the list for 18 months unless there is a separate attack in that time frame. The law does not address dogs who are taken off the list and then attack again, Farrell said.
She said papers have been drawn up to notify Lobo’s owners, Jaclyn and David Ebaugh, that Lobo is being declared a dangerous dog again.
But so far, animal control officers have not been able to get in touch with them. Once the papers are served, the Ebaughs have 10 days to file an appeal. If the case is appealed, a hearing will be held by the Animal Control Board, but Farrell doubts that would be successful since the dog has been on the Dangerous Dogs List before.
Rodriguez said she is the one who campaigned to get the Dangerous Dogs List added to the county’s website after her cat was killed, and the process to get Lobo and the other dog on the list took months and a lot of pushing.
Montgomery County made a mistake by only citing the dog for a Level One. They should have cited for Level Two which would have applied to the dog for the rest of its life.
She said she knows of four attacks or attempted attacks that Lobo has been involved in.
She said the first attack she knows of involved Lobo and another dog attacking a miniature pincer in August 2009 while it was on a chain with kids playing basketball nearby. Less than two months later her cat, Isis, was killed by Lobo just steps away from her front porch.
A year-and-a-half later, she was washing dishes while her miniature Labradoodle was on a chain outside and she heard a commotion. She said she was able to save her sweet-natured dog just in time as Lobo tried to attack it.
“He cowered under the porch until I pulled him in,” Rodriguez said. “He was not injured because he was right by the door and I was able to pull him in without him getting injured.”
Tubby’s owner, Kerri Bishop, said she was pulling into her driveway Wednesday evening as events unfolded. She said she saw Lobo running loose with a brown dog and the driver behind her hit the other dog, which has not been identified, and it rolled several times before running off.
That’s when Lobo charged her large mixed-breed dog, who was chained in her back yard.
“My dog did nothing but look around the corner of the house,” she said. “He went after my dog three times.”
Kerri Bishop and Rodriguez were able to pull Lobo off. Rodriguez had thought to bring a chain with her when she ran to help and she looped it around Lobo’s neck and held it until police arrived.
According to a Clarksville Police Department report, the unknown dog ran away and the officer made contact with Jaclyn Ebaugh about the Alaskan Malamute.
“Ms. Ebaugh advised the Malamute is kept in an enclosed fence in her backyard but must have gotten out,” the officer wrote. “The dog belonging to Timothy Bishop was injured, though it did not appear to be life threatening. Jaclyn Ebaugh was cited for dog-at-large and Montgomery County Animal Control was notified of the incident.”
Kerri Bishop thinks the dog should have been impounded immediately. Her dog suffered puncture wounds in his neck and bleeding ears. She said the bleeding stopped and she did not take him to a veterinarian because she didn’t believe Lobo’s owner would pay the bill.
She laughed when told that Animal Control had investigated and was working to serve papers declaring Lobo a dangerous dog. She said they seemed more interested in why she kept her dog on a chain with shelter, food and water than they did about the dog attack.
“That won’t do anything,” Kerri Bishop said. “Something needs to be done because next time it’s going to be a kid.”
She said she’s pushing to have Lobo confiscated and that more needs to be done to keep dogs that repeatedly attack other animals from running at large.
If Lobo is again declared a dangerous dog, under the county's law, the Ebaughs will be required to keep the dog contained in a very secure enclosure, place a sign in the yard proclaiming the presence of a "dangerous dog" and to muzzle the dog when it is taken to a veterinarian, the only time the dog is allowed off the owner's property.
Dangerous dogs must be spayed or neutered, have rabies shots and be implanted with a microchip that is registered with Animal Control.
If the owners don't comply with all those rules within 30 days, the dog can be euthanized.
The dogs will remain on the list for 18 months and, if there are no infractions during that time, they will be taken off the list.
There are currently seven other dogs on the Dangerous Dogs list.
Farrell, who became the director of Animal Control in February, said animal control officers have investigated and she has talked to the county attorney about the case. Papers were drawn up to declare Lobo a dangerous dog, but the other dog who ran away has not been identified.
She said Animal Control is doing everything it can to address the situation.
“We are going forward legally,” she said Friday. “We are pursuing it actively.”
The Ebaughs did not answer their door Friday and could not be reached for comment.
(The Leaf Chronicle - March 13, 2015)
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