An 8-year-old male greyhound was brutally attacked by another dog in Ames on Sunday evening. As Ames Animal Control continues to look into the incident, the owner of the dog that attacked has come forward.
According to Ames Animal Control Director Ron Edwards, the Ames Police Department originally followed up on the call of an animal attack in the 3400 block of Aurora Avenue in south Ames. “Ames Animal Control was notified at 8:44 p.m. Sunday evening that a person’s dog was attacked by an unleashed pit bull,” he stated. “While the attacked dog’s owner was outside, the pit bull came from across the street. The owner did not provide any information to the owner of the dog that was attacked.”
Edwards explained that the injured greyhound spent the rest of the night in a local animal clinic. By the following day, a degree of progress in the dog’s condition had been made. “We contacted the victim first thing Monday morning,” he said. “At that time, the dog was already home recovering. He had been at Iowa State Vet Med for about five hours.”
The Ames Animal Shelter posted flyers on apartment buildings in the area of the attack, while also releasing notices on its Facebook page, searching for the owner of the pit bull. On Tuesday evening, Ames Animal Control received a call. “The flyer that [the pit bull owner] found, on Cottonwood Road, was just posted [Tuesday] night,” Edwards noted. “Then, he left a message with us as he was reading it. He had not seen the one we posted on the other building, as he doesn’t live there.”
Edwards explained that Animal Control promptly made contact with the owner and received an explanation as to why there was no information exchanged between the two dog owners following the attack. “According to the owner, he thought the dog was okay,” he said. “It sounds like the person with the greyhound initially said that it seemed like [her dog] was fine. She didn’t see anything until she got into the light. It’s a darker, not very well-lit area. And I think with all the emotion and probably being scared out of her mind, she just didn’t notice as much right there. Animals can also hide some of that stuff too, at first. So, it might have just been when she got inside and really was able to take a look that she saw that there were much more severe injuries.”
As it relates to the lack of leash or collar on the pit bull, the owner made it clear how fast things happened. “What he said is that the dog slipped out of his collar,” Edwards relayed. “He said he had the leash and collar with him. The dog slipped out of it, and I think that happened when it saw the other dog.”
According to Edwards, the pit bull’s recent vaccinations have been verified, but the investigation is not over. “As far as what we are doing, we are continuing our investigation,” he concluded. “We’ll talk to his vet to see if there have been any behavior issues or red flags. We will definitely be issuing a citation for ‘off-leash’. That is minimal. And we will just see where the investigation goes, as far as any ‘dangerous domestic animal’ registration or anything like that.”
Edwards reiterated earlier in the week the importance of understanding the local laws involving your pet before allowing it to go outside. “A dog has to been maintained with a leash in any common areas and under the owner’s control, including those common areas at an apartment complex,” he stated. “There is also part of our code that allows us to register a dog as a ‘dangerous animal,’ if we determine that. With that, there are certain requirements that have to be met, such as a basket muzzle when the dog is outside the home.”
Regardless of the outcome, Edwards made clear the seriousness of this type of accident. Although the greyhound’s injuries do not appear to currently be life-threatening, things can change quickly. “They have said that the dog is on pain medication now and doing better, but there’s always a chance of infection,” he acknowledged. “There were definitely some significant wounds. The dog has drainage bandages, drain tubes, stitches, and needs several bandage-changes a day. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
WARNING: THE IMAGES BELOW OF THE INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE INCIDENT ARE GRAPHIC IN NATURE.
In addition to pending legal fines, the owner of the pit bull has agreed to reimburse the greyhound’s owner for medical expenses. “It’s kind of a civil matter between the two,” he concluded. “But he stated that he would be more than willing to pay for the vet bills. We provided the owner of the dog that was injured his contact information.”
Anyone who wishes to report an animal control issue is encouraged Ames Animal Shelter at 515-239-5530. You may also reach out through the Ames Animal Shelter page on Facebook.
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