Owner appeals Washington dog’s death sentence

On Oct. 8, Michele Hendricks was washing dishes in the kitchen at 1017 N. Eighthy Ave.

As she went to throw away the remaining food from the sink drain, a dog named Oreo nipped at her and then latched onto her arm.

The dog let go after being yelled at by owner Zach Cotterman. Hendricks sustained two deep lacerations to her right forearm.

Hendricks received nine stitches, and Oreo was ordered to be killed by the Washington police chief and the city administrator.

Cotterman is appealing to the City Council to prevent his dog from being killed. The appeal is on the agenda for tonight's meeting.

Oreo is a 2-year-old dog who has been in three different homes. She has only been in the current household for a month. Based on information giving during a hearing, the dog is affectionate but has triggers due to a former abusive home.

After the incident, Police Chief Jim Lester ordered Oreo to be seized and impounded. Town and Country Veterinary Clinic found that Oreo did not have an up-to-date rabies vaccination and was put under a 10-day quarantine for evaluation.

During the time at the vet, Dr. Wendy Miller said the dog was not aggressive toward the staff or any other dogs in the facility.

'Oreo tolerated full restraint during her exam and fully cooperated with the staff while out of the kennel,” according to a report by City Administrator Brent Hinson.

The dog showed no signs of rabies during the quarantine and was vaccinated.

On Oct. 13, Lester ordered that Oreo be killed, that decision was later confirmed by Hinson.

Hinson's decision came after a hearing on Oct. 27.

The hearing was to determine if Oreo is vicious, if the owner failed to restrain the animal and if it is in public interest to destroy the animal.

Hinson decided Oreo met the definition of a 'vicious animal” based on the attack.

The other two points were more complicated to determine.

When discussing restraint, there is no specific definition as to what reasonable restraint means, so Hinson asked whether or not Oreo was sufficiently supervised.

Oreo was in her home environment and among family and friends, according to the report.

Hendricks had met Oreo the previous day from an opposite side of a fence. At the time, the report states the animal behaved normally, although, the family was aware of certain triggers the animal had.

The first owner of the dog was abusive and had kids who would throw trash at the dog.

The second owner of the dog said Oreo is very protective of its home environment and should have close supervision when around a new person.

'More perhaps should have been done to slowly introduce the dog to a new person in the home environment,” Hinson said.

Hinson said the most difficult question is determining whether it is in the public's best interest to kill the dog or remove her from the city limits.

Cotterman and other members of the household said that the dog is affectionate. They showed Hinson a video of a visit to the vet's office during the quarantine, where Oreo was excited and affectionate to see her owners.

The household members said the dog provides emotional support to the owners for post-traumatic stress.

To gather additional information, Hinson had the dog released into the care of City Animal Control Officer Dalton Sorrells.

Sorrels said there was no evidence of aggression during the time period.

On the other side, Hendricks received severe injuries, medical bills and the possibility of lingering medical issues.

'The bite in this case is one of the most severe I have seen on a human in my decade-plus of reviewing dog bite cases,” Hinson said.

Hinson said he has seen dogs justifiably ordered to be killed for much less.

Based on the information, he agreed with Lester and determined it is in the best interest the dog be humanely destroyed or removed from city limits.

'This decision is not rendered lightly,” Hinson said.