Millie, a female terrier mix, faced the judgment of the panel April 13, following a March incident in which the dog injured a neighbor's male Yorkshire terrier and its owner, 44-year-old Michelle Keck, who sustained an injury to her hand when the two dogs got in a fight.
Um, NO. The dogs did not get into a FIGHT. This was an attack on a smaller, weaker animal. This was no more a FIGHT than if an 18 year-old-male jumped on and began beating on a 6-year-old. This was an ATTACK.
Millie, a 45-pound terrier mix owned by John and Nancy Smith, slipped out of her collar the day of the attack. Nancy Smith was walking her near their home at the time of the escape, but testimonies outlining exactly what happened during the incident differed.
“It was like a shark attack,” Keck testified. She said Millie was unprovoked when she bit her Yorkie, Spike, in the area of his back and held on like a vise. She was able to release Millie's grip on Spike, but Millie attacked again, she said, and Millie's owner was nowhere near the scene.
Nancy Smith said she never saw Spike, or the altercation between the dogs, but she did not deny that Millie bit Spike. Nancy Smith said she immediately started running and yelling when Millie escaped from her collar and leash.
Delaware Animal Care and Control Chief Capt. Sherri Warburton recommended the panel label Millie as a “dangerous” dog, which would have required the Smiths to obtain $100,000 in liability insurance, muzzle her when outside of their home and add additional safety parameters for the remainder of her life.
The Smiths and their lawyer, Mike Abram, argued that Millie's aggression was limited to two neighborhood Yorkies, Spike and another owned by Keck's parents, Max, which both instigated confrontations in the past and according to testimony are never on a leash.
“Millie is not a threat to the neighborhood,” Abram said. “Millie has a problem with these Yorkies. These Yorkies have a problem with Millie.”
The March 16 incident, which left Spike, the Yorkshire terrier, hospitalized for two days, was the only time Millie was off-leash, the Smiths testified.
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| Delaware Animal Care and Control Chief Captain Sherri Warburton, left, questions Michelle Keck, whose Yorkshire terrier, Spike, was bit by a neighbor's female terrier mix, Millie. (Photo by: Maddy Lauria) |
Although veterinary reports were submitted as evidence during the hearing, the extent of Spike's injuries was unclear. He underwent surgery, Keck testified, and spent two nights in veterinary care; now, he is home and fully recovering, she testified, with some residual pain and bumps on his side from scar tissue.
Keck also sustained an injury to her hand, which she said was the result of a bite from Millie.
Abram argued whether the injury sustained by Keck was from Millie, Spike or from possibly falling down while intervening in the fight. Keck was adamant that Millie bit her, and medical records read during the testimony outlined that she suffered puncture wounds on her hand from a “pit bull” bite.
A teary-eyed Keck, who said she waitresses, said she missed out on two nights of work because of the injury. But she testified that she did not notice when her injury happened, although she said she was sure it was Millie, not Spike, that bit her.
Immediately following the incident, the Smiths agreed to pay for all of Spike's veterinary bills, they said.
Of more than 1,500 cases of dogs biting other dogs or humans, Warbuton said, only about four have been judged by the dog control panel, which had been dormant from about 2010 to 2014. The Smiths requested the panel hearing after disputing that Millie was a threat to other people or dogs.
When the bite was reported to First State Animal Center and SPCA – the nonprofit contracted by New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties and the City of Wilmington to perform dog-control duties – a 6-month employee reported to the scene that same day.
Officer Katelynn Pepper testified she attempted to contact both the Smiths and the Kecks to check on rabies vaccinations for both dogs March 16. She soon found that Millie was up-to-date on vaccinations, even though Pepper was unable to initially make contact with the Smiths, but Spike's rabies vaccination had lapsed for about six months, officers testified.
Because of the bite incident, Pepper said, it was routine to quarantine the dogs. However, she was unable to explain during her testimony why a quarantine was mandated or what law supported such a requirement.
The young officer testified she was just following routine procedure by requesting the quarantine, and that her involvement with the case ended the same day as the dog fight. She said John Smith became irate on the phone when she explained the quarantine requirement; she testified he said his lawyer would have to be present before any animal control officers could come onto his property.
On the second or third day of the investigation, which by then was in the hands of Lt. Mary Palacio, the case had shifted from a quarantine request to the seizure of a dangerous dog. Animal control obtained a search warrant – processed within three hours and incorrectly dated April 18 – before reporting to the Smiths' home and seizing Millie on March 20.
The Smiths complied with the warrant, and Millie was taken to a shelter where she was held for more than three weeks until the panel made its determination. The Smiths were expected to pick up Millie at about 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 14.
“I think it was a fair decision,” John Smith said. “We're thankful to almighty God for the decision.”
Although the dog panel hearing is over, the Smiths still have a pending lawsuit in Superior Court that argues that animal control officers do not have proper training or lawful police powers to apply for a search and seizure warrant.
(Cape Gazette - Apr 13, 2015)
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