A Catahoula leopard dog named Buoy that belonged to a Chehalis family was euthanized last month after it was reported to have attacked a young child and friend of the family who owned the animal during a child's birthday party.
During a meeting of the Lewis County Dangerous Animal Designation Board on Monday, Sept. 21, Lewis County Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Gripp informed the board that they would no longer hear the case after a note from a local veterinary office confirmed the dog in the case had been put down.
According to documents acquired by The Chronicle, a year-and-a-half old dog named Buoy reportedly bit a 9-year-old child during a backyard birthday party for the child's friend. The two young boys, the victim and his friend, were petting the dog, which was tethered away from party attendees, when it bit him on the face, collar bone and side.
The Chronicle isn’t naming the 9-year-old victim or the child’s parents in order to protect the identity of the minor.
In early August, Community Service Officer David Sims with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a dangerous dog complaint. A man reported that his 9-year-old son had been bitten by a dog during a friend’s birthday party on the last weekend of July.
The man reported that his son had suffered puncture wounds and scratches he believed to be consistent with a dog bite. He added that the family had not provided any evidence of vaccinating the dog. The man said he was reporting the incident out of concern that it could happen again.
“(He) said the dog is dangerous and he doesn’t want anything like this to happen to another child,” Sims wrote in his report.
Sims reported speaking with the owners of the dog, Kelsie and Tyler Stiltner, the following day. According to the report, Stiltner told Sims he was grilling during his son's birthday party when the incident occurred and he didn’t see exactly what happened.
He informed Sims that he had tethered his dog away from people at the party and warned attendees, including children, not to go near the dog because he “didn’t know how he would react to all the people and activities.”
Stiltner added that his son had told him that the two young boys, Stiltner’s son and the victim, had walked over to see the dog staying out of his reach, but that the victim had continued walking and been scratched by the dog, but not bitten.
The victim’s father submitted a statement to Sims providing his own recollection of the events and information provided by his son, who reported that the two boys were petting the dog together when it jumped up and bit him. The father recalled that the Stiltners had originally said the dog might have bitten the victim and that they believed the injuries to be scratches.
In the statement, the father reported that when he arrived to pick up his son, blood was seeping through the bandages the family had used to cover the wounds. He added that despite adults at the party stating that they believed the wounds to be scratches from the dog, there appeared to be multiple puncture wounds from a bite in places going as deep as 3 to 4 millimeters.
The father added that they had taken their son to receive antibiotics after the bite out of concern that the dog may not have been vaccinated.
Established in 2018, the Lewis County Dangerous Animal Designation Board was founded to “enhance public participation in the dangerous animal designation process,” according to a county announcement. The board meets on the first Monday of each month, except for when the schedule conflicts with a holiday.
“County residents who receive a dangerous animal notification from Lewis County are required to attend a hearing during which — based on evidence presented — the hearings officer(s) will determine whether an animal is to be declared dangerous,” the county said in a statement.
Per county code, animals deemed dangerous must either be euthanized or required to follow a strict set of rules.
