A police report reprinted on the crime blotter page of the Corvallis Gazette-Times tells a story that will be all-too-familiar to victims of Oregon dog attacks: Someone gets bitten while walking through a park, and the dog’s owner tries to brush off the incident.
The good news in this case is that the victim, 52-year-old Doug Whippo, was not seriously injured. According to the police report, as reprinted in the paper, he was attacked in Willamette Park last weekend. The dog bit Whippo on his left tricep, but the police say the bite “did not break his skin or cause any damage to his clothes.”
The bad news comes from the reaction by the dog’s owner, who told police: “the dog had just been playing and was only a puppy.” The police report then dryly notes that this ‘puppy’ weighs 93 pounds. The owner added that “she had instantly grabbed the dog by the collar and apologized.” Obviously grabbing your dog by the collar after it attacks someone is a good thing for owners to do. So is apologizing. On the whole, however, it would be even better if owners paid closer attention to their animals to ensure that they did not wind up in this position in the first place.
Ultimately, Mr., Whippo was lucky. Many others are not. If you have been the victim of a Corvallis, Medford, Salem or Portland dog attack then you owe it to yourself to speak with an Oregon dog attack attorney as quickly as possible. Pet owners have an obligation to keep their animals under control to prevent them from becoming a public menace. The owner of the dog that attacked Whippo was cited for an unprovoked attack, but accountability should not end there.
In your struggle to make that accountability a reality a Portland dog attack attorney can be your most important ally.
Corvallis Gazette-Times: Crime Watch