Dolberry says she’s living in fear
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After being bitten by a mixed breed dog in 2001 while farming family nursery fields near her West Green Hill Road home, her patience wore thin after her 9-year-old, registered English Springer Spaniel was attacked by a pit bull just before Christmas.
Dolberry said as she was entering her home with her dog following closely at her heels, the pit bull attacked her dog and wouldn’t let go.
“There was a real heavy glass that I grabbed and I started beating it with the glass,” she said in recalling the incident.
“That wasn’t working. I got my senses and saw a concrete block and went to beating the pit bull with the concrete block. I was screaming and yelling and it finally woke up my son and I was just telling somebody, ‘Get a gun. Kill this dog before he kills her.’ He went back in and got a gun and shot it.”
As a 15-year resident of her home, Dolberry said she now keeps her own dog inside while it recovers from the puncture wounds sustained in the attack. She said she lives in relative fear something could happen again and wants to lobby government to take more of a stand against owners of vicious dogs who allow them to roam.
“Living with this kind of fear is awful,” she said. “I want people to wake up and get some new laws passed here in Warren County.”
While there is a myth that there is no leash law outside McMinnville city limits, there is actually a state law that prohibits owners from letting their dogs run at large, according to several local legal authorities, who also said the maximum penalty for guilty parties in those types of cases is 30 days in jail.
The law basically says owners should confine dogs to their property but does not distinguish between a vicious dog, a stray, or someone’s dog that got loose, even though Dolberry’s main concern is with vicious dogs.
Warren County Humane Society animal shelter manager Beth Farmer said in situations where there is a known dog owner and that person’s dog roams, she said there isn’t much she can do beyond giving a warning or advising the complaining party to seek a criminal warrant through the sheriff’s department. She said she believes laws could be strengthened at the county level to help allay the problems of dogs running at large
According to County Executive Kenneth Rogers, the state law would have to be strengthened or changed first since the county generally gets its legal authority from it.
State law also regulates what is known as intentional killing of an animal, which is not justified not for roaming or trespassing animals. It is justified, however, according to the statute, if the person acted under a reasonable belief that an animal was creating an “imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to such person of another or an imminent danger of death to an animal owned by such person.” Civil penalties can also apply.
Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny said when there are reports of problematic dogs, deputies respond as is possible within the context of more pressing crimes.
“We get a lot of dog problems for some reason,” he said. “We can’t charge everybody for having dogs running at large, but they are not supposed to let them.”
Dolberry is not too upset about harmless strays, but wants better laws as they could relate to vicious dogs.
Farmer said in one large Tennessee city, regulations force people with such dogs to affix a special collar to the dog if it is known to be vicious, fence the property and provide a kennel, as well as spay or neuter the animal.
“These are not popular laws,” Farmer admitted. “I would love to have an actual county leash law. It would make things a lot easier.”
Farmer also made a point to say it is her experience as an animal shelter manager that more dog bites occur with mixed breed dogs. While Dolberry is obviously upset about the pit bull breed, she said she doesn’t really mind people owning pit bulls.
“There are people who like pit bulls. That’s fine,” she said. “But keep them up. Be responsible.”