Marengo woman charged after dog bites neighbor

MARENGO — Tiffany Gotsis, 39, was charged last week with allowing an animal to run, chase after or attack a person after her dog bit a 3-year-old neighbor in Gotsis’ home in February.

“I’ve been crying and trying to get all the information I can on Sage,” said Gotsis in a phone interview Friday. “I’m not trying to minimize what happened to her.”

But Buddy would not have attacked the girl if her father hadn’t walked into the house without knocking, Gotsis said.

According to Gotsis, the girl’s father, Ryan, asked Gotsis if she would watch the girl while he went to the bank.

“I said I was going to babysit, yes,” Gotsis said. But she wasn’t babysitting when the dog bit the girl, as reported by Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray. The girl had just walked in the door when the dog bit her, Gotsis said.

Gotsis had agreed to watch the girl. “Under no circumstances does that give anyone the right to walk into my home,” Gotsis said.

“Ryan walked into my home without permission. … He walked into my house without knocking. … I wasn’t even up off the couch. I heard the front door slam, and Buddy was already over there,” Gotsis said.

“I jumped up when I heard the door close. Buddy was trotting toward the door. … He wasn’t even growling or anything,” said Gotsis.

Then the dog attacked.

“When he bit Sage, I put my hand over his mouth, and he immediately let go,” said Gotsis.

“I didn’t get a dog to be vicious, but I did get a dog to protect me and the kids,” said Gotsis. “He thought he was doing his job.”

Gotsis said she’s not condoning what the dog did but says it’s the fault of the girl’s father. “I know for a fact Buddy wouldn’t have attacked like that if Ryan had knocked at the door.”

Previous attack

Gotsis admitted Friday that Buddy previously bit a police officer.

According to documents filed with Iowa County District Court, Marengo Police Officer Heath Jepson went to Gotsis’s home about 2:44 p.m. April 23, 2023 to follow up on a call from that morning about Gotsis’ boyfriend’s mother, Lori Hudepohl, who had mental health issues.

Hudepohl had left the house, and Gotsis wanted help from the police to find her and make sure she had a place to stay out of the cold.

According to a narrative by Jepson filed with the court, Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Pahl had been to the residence that morning and was bitten on the boot by Gotsis’ dog. He was not injured.

While in Gotsis’ home, Jepson walked past the dog. “Buddy had been friendly up until I walked past him,” said Jepson in the court document. “I was unaware that Buddy had bit Deputy Pahl when he was there on the earlier call.”

Buddy bit Jepson once on the back of his right calf, Jepson said in the court document.

“Buddy gave him a warning bite,” Gotsis said Friday. She put the dog in the kennel in the house, she said.

At that time, the dog had a 2022 rabies tag, but the vaccination had expired in March 2023.

Jepson thought the bite had left a scratch and didn’t break the skin, the document filed with the court says, but when he checked again while leaving the scene, he found the bite had bled.

He went to the Compass Memorial Healthcare emergency room and was treated and released with a prescription for amoxicillin.

Jepson returned to the Gotsis home after Hudepohl returned. Buddy was in the kennel, the court document says.

Jepson told Gotsis that the dog would have to be quarantined for 10 days because he bit Jepson.

The following day, April 24, 2023, Gray issued a citation to Gotsis for having an unlicensed dog, according to court documents. Gotsis entered a plea of not guilty.

The case went to trial Aug. 1, 2023. The court found Gotsis guilty Aug. 15, 2023. She was fined $200 and ordered to pay court costs.

Gotsis said Friday that she’s taken the dog to her vet to have his behavior monitored. “This dog doesn’t move off the couch,” Gotsis said. “He really is a lazy dog.”