Dog owner sought in Fairview Park attack

ILLINOIS -- A weekend dog attack at Fairview Park left a Minnesota man injured and police looking for the dog's owner.

Scott McBride, 57, grew up in Decatur and was visiting his parents for the Memorial Day weekend.

He had stopped to take a photo of the “bikini tree” in the park about 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning during his run. After restarting his run, he noticed a large black pit bull / Labrador retriever mix dog charging toward him from the area of the dog park.

“I'm watching this dog come at me, and I'm not fearful because the owner wasn't reacting, so I'm thinking it must be friendly,” McBride said.

The longtime runner has been chased by dogs before and was expecting it to be a bluff.

“He never stopped running,” he said.

The dog hit him in the side and McBride tumbled to the ground. The dog bit his right leg, leaving three deep puncture wounds before sprinting back to its owner in the nearby parking lot.

“I yelled, and I know he heard me,” he said. “He never said a word.”

McBride watched the man load the dog into the back of a black pickup truck and drive off while he lay there bleeding.

“This is not a commonplace occurrence; this is really unusual,” park district Executive Director Bill Clevenger said of the attack.

A park ordinance requires all dogs be leashed in city parks. Park ranger Tim Boulware said a violation could result in a ticket and a $65 fine.

Fairview receives the most visitors out of all Decatur's parks, and Clevenger said the leash ordinances are in place for everyone’s safety.

“We have a wonderful trail system. It's so heavily used we just have to be courteous with each other,” he said.

The dog park is only available to registered users who gain entry with a digital pass system.

Boulware said there's no way to track entries, but the officers don't think the man involved uses the dog park.

“The leash laws are going to be enforced, and people need to keep their dog on the leash while on the property,” Boulware said.

The investigation is ongoing, and Boulware encouraged anyone with information to contact the park district.

McBride was treated for the bites and Monday drove eight hours to his home in Minnesota where he received further treatment for rabies. He will need to continue the series of shots unless the dog can be found and its rabies status is known..

McBride's brother, Bruce, wrote a lengthy account of the attack on Facebook asking for help to find the man. By Wednesday, the post had been shared more than 600 times.

“We are interested in trying to figure out whether we can find that owner or dog, because I'm going through rabies treatment,” Scott McBride said.

He said he's encouraged by the feedback, and while he isn't up to running yet, the attack hasn't deterred him from visiting Decatur's trails.

“I would still go back there; I love the trails there,” McBride said.

(Herald & Review - May 29, 2015)