Published: Friday, January 8, 2010
Animal control officer says dog's shooting was justified
The yellow Lab was running loose when a farmer fired to protect her calves. Now the dog's owners face fines.
ARLINGTON — Chopper's big eyes splashed across a Seattle TV station's newscasts earlier this week.
The yellow Labrador retriever's owner reported Chopper was suffering after being wounded by 73 lead pellets fired from a shotgun. The shooting occurred near the family's home in unincorporated Arlington, east of the airport.
Sympathy welled and, according to Snohomish County Animal Control documents, fingers started to get pointed at neighborhood teens with a reputation for shooting coyotes.
It turns out that while Chopper's injuries are unfortunate, the shooting was justified under county rules, animal control manager Vicki Lubrin said.
It also had nothing to do with kids.
Instead the shooting apparently occurred when a farmer took legal steps to protect her livestock.
Chopper's owners now face possible fines and violations for allowing their dogs to run loose and apparently attack a neighbor's newborn calf. So do the people who own Bella, a black Lab that was also involved but escaped being hit by the shotgun pellets.
Here's what a four-page county report says happened:
Early the afternoon of New Year's Day, an Arlington-area woman heard dogs barking in her cow pasture. She told officials she loaded two rounds into her shotgun, went outside and drove the dogs off with gunfire.
The woman said she was worried about three young calves, including one that was about 6 hours old.
She told investigators she saw a black dog run off but didn't see where the yellow dog went. She'd had prior experience with the black dog, later identified as Bella. The woman filed a complaint in 2008 after Bella harassed her chickens.
The newly born calf was motionless when the woman reached it, but it finally got up and limped off to join its mother.
On Saturday, neighbors knocked on the woman's door to say they'd found an injured dog on her property. She and her husband used their tractor to help bring the dog to its owner.
The woman's husband later saw the TV story about Chopper's shooting and called 911 to report what happened.
“She did have a right to protect her livestock, and she was not in the wrong for shooting the dog,” animal control officer Lisa Lyons wrote in her report.
Chopper's owners now could face fines for violations related to the livestock attack, violating leash laws and having an unlicensed dog. Bella's owners face similar fines and on Wednesday took out a license for her. Both dogs have been deemed dangerous, which requires they be kept inside enclosures.
The owners can appeal the county violations and the $50 fine.
“We understand this was a tragic thing that happened,” Lubrin said. It all could have been prevented if the dogs were kept secured, she said. “Keep Fido in your purview.”
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
The yellow Labrador retriever's owner reported Chopper was suffering after being wounded by 73 lead pellets fired from a shotgun. The shooting occurred near the family's home in unincorporated Arlington, east of the airport.
Sympathy welled and, according to Snohomish County Animal Control documents, fingers started to get pointed at neighborhood teens with a reputation for shooting coyotes.
It turns out that while Chopper's injuries are unfortunate, the shooting was justified under county rules, animal control manager Vicki Lubrin said.
It also had nothing to do with kids.
Instead the shooting apparently occurred when a farmer took legal steps to protect her livestock.
Chopper's owners now face possible fines and violations for allowing their dogs to run loose and apparently attack a neighbor's newborn calf. So do the people who own Bella, a black Lab that was also involved but escaped being hit by the shotgun pellets.
Here's what a four-page county report says happened:
Early the afternoon of New Year's Day, an Arlington-area woman heard dogs barking in her cow pasture. She told officials she loaded two rounds into her shotgun, went outside and drove the dogs off with gunfire.
The woman said she was worried about three young calves, including one that was about 6 hours old.
She told investigators she saw a black dog run off but didn't see where the yellow dog went. She'd had prior experience with the black dog, later identified as Bella. The woman filed a complaint in 2008 after Bella harassed her chickens.
The newly born calf was motionless when the woman reached it, but it finally got up and limped off to join its mother.
On Saturday, neighbors knocked on the woman's door to say they'd found an injured dog on her property. She and her husband used their tractor to help bring the dog to its owner.
The woman's husband later saw the TV story about Chopper's shooting and called 911 to report what happened.
“She did have a right to protect her livestock, and she was not in the wrong for shooting the dog,” animal control officer Lisa Lyons wrote in her report.
Chopper's owners now could face fines for violations related to the livestock attack, violating leash laws and having an unlicensed dog. Bella's owners face similar fines and on Wednesday took out a license for her. Both dogs have been deemed dangerous, which requires they be kept inside enclosures.
The owners can appeal the county violations and the $50 fine.
“We understand this was a tragic thing that happened,” Lubrin said. It all could have been prevented if the dogs were kept secured, she said. “Keep Fido in your purview.”
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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