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Dogs Attack a Group of Children Walking Home from School

Owner of Dogs Steps Forward
UPDATE 03/20/08: Marion County sheriff investigators identified the owner of the dogs involved in an attack in which five children were bitten. Susanna Schindler, 35, of northeast Salem owns both a pit bull and Labrador/golden retriever mix involved in the incident. She took the Labrador mix home from the shelter because it was not identified as having bitten the children.

Schindler surrendered the pit bull to the county, which will keep the dog in quarantine for 10 days and then euthanize it because it was involved in a biting attack. No charges were filed against Schindler, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. Schindler is responsible for paying $330 in fees to dog control.

3/16/08: Golden Retreiver Tried to Help Girls
Two girls are recovering after being bitten in a dog attack Friday. The sisters were among a group of five girls, ages 8 to 10, who were walking from a school bus stop when they were attacked. The sisters were bitten in the ankle and taken to Salem Hospital, where one received 10 stitches and the other 14.

The pit bull that bit them has not been claimed and remains at Marion County Dog Control and Shelter. No one also has claimed the other dog that was detained either, a 5-month-old golden retriever.

The retriever didn’t bite anyone but instead tried to help the girls, according to the children’s account. “She’s considered a hero to at least two of the girls,” Haskett said of the golden retriever.

Marion County could issue an infraction against the pit bull’s owner for having a potentially dangerous dog or dangerous dog. A hearings officer would hear the case and could issue fines, require restrictions or order the dog be destroyed.

If no one claims the dogs within 72 hours of their arrival at the shelter, they will become the property of the county, which will determine their fate. The pit bull, which is about a year old, will be put down. But the golden retriever is adoptable.

03/15/08: Dogs Attack 5 Children in Oregon
Marion County, OR - Two dogs attacked a group of children while they were walking home from school on Friday. Marion County sheriff’s deputies are searching for the owners of a pit bull and a lab-golden retriever mix that bit two girls on the legs as they walked home from the bus stop on meadow park loop northeast near fisher road.

An ambulance took the girls to Salem Hospital with non-life threatening injuries while three other children had minor bites and were treated on the scene. Neighbors say one of the victim’s mothers rushed out with a mop to get the dogs off of her daughter and then called 911.

Neighbors said they’ve never had a problem with dog attacks in the past, and have no idea who owns the dogs. If you have any information as to who the owner is, you’re asked to call the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

In other news:

Oregon Increases Dogfighting Spectator Penalties
Salem, OR - Governor Ted Kulongoski has signed a bill that strengthens Oregon's dogfighting laws. The bill outlaws attending a dogfight, advertising one, possessing dogfighting paraphernalia or offering to sell dogfighting equipment.

It's unclear if the new penalties include felony charges, which is a much-anticipated and growing nationwide trend.