Two husky-mix dogs residing on a property near Winlock were officially declared dangerous earlier this week following a short-lived rampage last month that left more than 60 domestic birds dead and others wounded.
The Lewis County Dangerous Animal Designation (DAD) Board ruled two dogs named Bear and Masha as dangerous during the board's hearing Monday afternoon in an open and shut case. The hearing lasted all of five minutes after a representative from the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office introduced an undisclosed stipulation.
Animals deemed dangerous in Lewis County are sometimes recommended to be euthanized; however, in most cases, the animals can stay with their owners. To keep a dangerous animal, the owner's property must meet certain criteria to make sure the animal can't escape their private property. Owners must also register the animal as a dangerous animal with the county and pay a fee for keeping a dangerous animal.
The case heard on Monday was seemingly clear cut.
The packet of evidence provided to the board members included an incident report from the original responding Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy, reports from the community service officer who led the investigation as well as photos of the scene of the crime and the canine suspects.
According to documents provided to the DAD Board members, the Lewis County Sheriff's Office received a report of a vicious dog incident on the morning of Sept. 7 from a county resident with a Winlock address. The resident reported that two dogs from a neighbor's property had killed her chickens and other domesticated birds.
Lewis County Deputy Danny Riordan responded to the call, arriving on the property just before 9 a.m. In the incident report, the deputy recalls being shown the damage by the victims, a married couple. The husband told the responding officer that he was in the process of going outside in the morning to care for the birds when he found the two dogs in the act. In response, he called his wife out of the house and was able to stop the dogs from continuing the massacre.
At the time, the damage consisted of 46 dead domestic birds, including chicken and ducks spread out through three different coops that housed them. The owners testified that at least another 20 birds were injured.
The packet provided to the Lewis County DAD Board members includes photos taken by Riordan of the dead chickens and other birds along with mounds of feathers scattered around and nearby the three chicken coops.
After the initial response, Riordan was able to contact the owners of the suspected dogs who by that time had secured the dogs on their own property. Riordan notified them that the county would conduct an investigation of the incident.
Lewis County Community Service Officer David Sims took over the case after that, contacting the owners of the suspected dogs and getting their photos. According to the incident report filed by Sims, one of the owners admitted that the two dogs had caused them concern before after killing some of their own chickens in the past, but that they didn't expect the larger killing. The owner added that she would adhere to “whatever was decided” concerning what to do with the dogs.
