Pit bull bites 3 people in Aloha; owner cited

OREGON -- An Aloha woman was cited for having a dangerous dog after her pit bull bit three people Tuesday afternoon.

Animal control officers took the dog into custody.

Deputies responded to a 911 call about an aggressive dog that had bitten several people near Southwest 196th Avenue and Farmington Road. The caller, 41-year-old Reed McClintock, said he was trapped on top of a neighbor's car.

McClintock told KGW the dog bit him three times before he called for help. He climbed onto the car and started screaming at the dog to keep its attention on him.

"I knew we couldn't have the dog running crazy in the neighborhood," he said. "I felt bad bleeding all over the lady's car."

 

According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office incident report, the dog attacked a 15-year-old boy who was walking on 196th Avenue. The dog bit the boy on his knee.

A neighbor told investigators he saw the attack and ran to help the boy. He suffered a deep bite to his right thigh, according to the report.

McClintock said he heard barking, saw what was going on from his deck and started recording the incident on his cellphone. He went to help when he saw neighbors trying to get control of the dog.

The dog bit McClintock on his ankle, hand and wrist.

"The bites were more like warning bites from the dog," said McClintock. "Because the kid that the dog belonged to was trying to contain his dog. I was telling the kid how to get control of his dog, but he was just not big enough to do it."

When deputies arrived, they found the 10-year-old boy holding the pit bull around its neck.

McClintock was standing on a car nearby and told the deputies the dog would attack them if they got out of their car.

The boy lost control of the dog and it charged at the deputies, according to the report. One deputy shocked the dog with a Taser and it ran to a nearby house.

Washington County Animal Control officers arrived and took the dog into custody.

The dog owner, Angela Jovel Mendez, told investigators her dog usually stays inside. The dog escaped through a hole on her property, she said.

Animal control officers cited Mendez for having a dangerous dog.

The dog was quarantined for 10 days, according to the incident report.

"I'm not angry at the dog for its behavior. It's a dog," said McClintock. "I think there's a problem any time someone has a dog that can be aggressive and they don't do something about it."

(kgw.com - Apr 23, 2015)