A recent dog attack in the Morgan Hill Dog Park may be an
isolated incident, but city personnel and the park’s regular users
urge dog owners to be careful and follow the rules.
A recent dog attack in the Morgan Hill Dog Park may be an isolated incident, but city personnel and the park’s regular users urge dog owners to be careful and follow the rules.
Morgan Hill resident Cindy Blanton stopped using the city-owned dog park after reporting that an older pit bull attacked her 6-month-old Spinone Italiano puppy in the dog park on West Edmundson Avenue Oct. 22.
She said her dog, Fisher, was playing in the park with a few other dogs, and approached a pit bull that was held by its owner on a chained leash. Blanton said the leashed dog jumped on her puppy, bit his leg and would not let go. When the dogs’ owners separated the canines, Blanton said Fisher was injured badly enough to require medical treatment.
She told the pit bull’s owner that she wanted his contact information. However, after she loaded Fisher into her car she turned around and the man and his dog were gone.
Blanton said the puppy had to have six stitches to sew up a cut on the inside of his leg, a procedure which cost her nearly $500. She later posted a flyer on the park’s bulletin board describing the pit bull and his owner, and urging other users to be careful if they are seen in the dog park again.
“We were going to the park four or five times a week (before my dog was attacked), but we’ll never go again,” said Blanton. “I’m not comfortable taking Fisher there anymore.”
Morgan Hill public works maintenance supervisor Anne Beale said the city urges park users to contact Morgan Hill Police animal control officer Daniel Pina if they have problems with aggressive dogs. Blanton did not report her dog’s incident to animal control.
Pina did not respond by press time to phone messages asking for comment on the frequency of dog attacks in the Morgan Hill Dog Park.
According to other park users and local veterinarians, it doesn’t seem to be a common problem.
Yvonne Davenport, treasurer of the Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group, said she has not heard of any specific dog-on-dog attacks in the park, which she said is used by up to “several hundred people and dogs” each week. She said she has seen the sign posted by Blanton.
Dr. John Quick, a verterinarian in Morgan Hill, said during the first few months the park was open in early 2007, he treated “three or four” dogs who had been injured by aggressive dogs at the public park. None of those were seriously injured, and since then he has not treated any dogs injured in the park. “It’s become a non-issue for us,” said Quick.
Melissa Olsen, a receptionist at South County Animal Hospital in Morgan Hill, said her office has treated up to three dogs in the last six months who had been attacked at the park.
The rules for the dog park are prominently posted on the fence surrounding the property. These include prohibiting aggressive dogs, as well as dogs that need to be leashed. Also, owners are responsible for their dogs.
Davenport added that aside from calling animal control in the event of an attack or violation of the rules, her group encourages the owners of any dogs involved to work out an agreement as to compensation.
Morgan Hill Animal Control Officer Daniel Pina can be reached at the Morgan Hill Police Department, (408) 779-2101.
