GIG HARBOR, Wash. - The owners of two dogs who killed livestock at a Key Peninsula veterinary hospital earlier this week have surrendered their animals to Pierce County Animal Control.
Two innocent-looking dogs, currently locked up at the Pierce County Humane Society, were caught at the scene of a bloody slaughter at Brookside Veterinary Hospital near Gig Harbor Tuesday morning. The dogs killed two pet goats and a sheep and injured a third goat.
"It wasn't for hunger. They weren't trying to eat the animals, it was just kill sport," said veterinarian Lisa Woods.
Woods is still shaken up by the attack at her clinic.
"And when they finally caught her they just took the skin off her head and she was still alive and that's how I found her," she said.
Woods had to euthanize that sheep. Two of her goats were already dead. Another victim was found in the pen - a wild deer.
Woods believes the dogs attacked the deer on the other side of the fence and that it jumped in to what it thought was safety. The dogs tried to dig under the fence in several places and finally broke through, finished off the wounded deer, then set their sights on the goats and sheep.
Only one animal survived. But Ralph, a 200 pound goat, suffered neck wounds so severe he may have to be put down.
"I don't blame the animals. The animals are doing what instincts tell them to do. They pack up, something clicks in them, and they go into that primordial, the game is on sport, who I blame are the owners who don't take the responsibility that they need to take," said Woods.
Animal Control officers said a tip from a citizen who saw a news account of the incident led them to the owners.
Officers traced the dogs to a residence on Glenwood Road SW in rural south Kitsap County. An Animal Control officer interviewed the owners, who believed their dogs - a 1-year-old Saint Bernard mix and a 5-year-old Australian shepherd - had been missing for more than a day.
The dogs were allowed to run freely in their unfenced yard. Kitsap Animal Control had no history of complaints about the impounded dogs or the owners.
A report will be sent to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review of possible charges in the case. The dogs face a much more serious fate. Their night on the prowl, when their instincts took over, is probably their last.
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