Site of vicious dog attack had history of complaints

By MARK MOREY

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Doctors are trying to save a Lower Valley man's leg after he was severely injured in a Friday attack by several dogs, a relative said Saturday.

The victim -- identified by family members as 55-year-old Lew Yallup -- reported that he expected an extended stay at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he underwent surgery late Friday, said Yallup's aunt, Arlene Olney of Toppenish.

Yakima County sheriff's officials said five dogs attacked the victim while he was picking up aluminum cans near the intersection of Knight Lane and Campbell Road, about a mile south of Wapato.

The bites were so severe that they exposed bone and removed large amounts of flesh, authorities said.

A passing motorist scared off the dogs by firing three rounds from a shotgun. Animal control officers caught four of the still-bloody dogs but could not identify the fifth.

The captured animals are staying at a Yakima shelter during a 10-day rabies quarantine, then must be killed, authorities said Friday.

Genevieve Dotson, another aunt of Yallup's, said she had earlier alerted authorities to concerns about the dogs.

Dotson, who lives on Campbell Road across from the dogs' owner, said Yallup might have been headed to her house from his uncle's place nearby when he was attacked.

Sheriff's officials confirmed that authorities had been called to the same area on three prior occasions for complaints of vicious dogs.

Dotson twice told deputies in June that her neighbor's pit bull was being allowed to run loose. She blamed a pit bull for a severe neck wound to one of her puppies, authorities said.

"I was afraid. I told them somebody's going to get hurt because those dogs are out there," Dotson said Friday. "I'm lucky they didn't attack me when I was going to the mailbox. I'm really upset about this. I think this guy should pay for this."

In the third incident, the neighbor told deputies that he thought Dotson's dog was responsible for killing his 12-year-old "wiener dog," sheriff's Sgt. Mike Russell said after reviewing the reports.

Dotson's neighbor -- 46-year-old Ruben Deanda of Knight Lane -- was issued a misdemeanor ticket Friday in connection with the attack on Yallup. A telephone number for him could not be located Saturday night.

Russell said Friday's case was the first time any tickets had been issued by the sheriff's office to any of those involved. Dotson called the sheriff's office twice in June; Deanda reported his complaint in November 2006.

Dotson blamed the situation in part on jurisdictional problems that result from the patchwork of land ownership on the Yakama reservation.

Dotson said that she had reported her concerns several times before to Yakama Nation police, who referred her to the sheriff's office because Deanda is Hispanic.

Deputies responded all three times.

When Deanda called about the dead dog in November 2006, deputies could not find any evidence linking Dotson's dog to the attack, although Deanda said he saw it hopping his fence, Russell said. Dotson could not be reached Saturday to comment on that account.

Sheriff's deputies referred the June case involving the dead puppy to animal control officers, who called Dotson back a few days later.

The animal officer referred Dotson to tribal police and wrote in the report that she wanted to let things settle down, Russell said. The animal officer asked her to call again if there were additional problems.

The third incident was also reported in June. Call notes show that Dotson wanted a deputy to drive through the area because a pit bull was running loose. The deputy did not find any problems, Russell said.