Colbert woman warns of aggressive dog who attacked service dog

COLBERT, Wash. -- A Colbert woman wants to warn others after she said her son and their service dog were attacked by two dogs during their nightly walk. She is concerned because several kids take that same route to school.

Marie Douglas' son Nathan walks their dog down E. Midway Road every night then he turns down Hatch Road. On their route, they walk by a house where they have had unpleasant encounters with dogs on the other side of the fence. On Monday night, it turned violent.

"What's going on? He's like, ‘Yager got bit!’ He said, ‘These two dogs bit him and tried to pull him underneath the fence,’" Douglas said.

Yager had to get emergency surgery. Douglas said she and her family have been up all night with Yager giving him his meds and making him as comfortable as they can.

Her son took pictures of the fence while Yager was in surgery. You can see the fairly large gap under the fence, which allowed the two dogs to easily reach out and attack Yager and Nathan. By Tuesday afternoon, more rocks have been placed in the gap.

"Yager is such a good dog. He didn't deserve that. He didn't do anything to the other dogs. So for the guy to have the attitude of, 'Oh wow that's how it is. That sucks.' Then what are you going to do when a little kid gets their hand bit off?" she said.

SCRAPS Regional Director Nancy Hill said they respond to incidents like this all over the county, and it is because dog owners don't always follow leash laws and their dogs may not be properly socialized.

"We teach a barrier defense so a backpack, a book or their jacket can be held in front of them as a barrier in front of them to hopefully keep the dog at distance,” Hill said.

According to data released by the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm, dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowner liability claim dollars paid in 2016. Over 300 of those claims were filed in Washington State.

SCRAPS officials said they will be out Thursday to continue their investigation and should have more information later in the week.

Source: krem.com