[alaskayorkie]

This happened April 29 but I've avoided writing about it here while animal control has been investigating, but I'm so upset right now that I just have to vent. This is an open and shut case, and animal control has been dragging its feet for more than 3 weeks.

Here's what happened: I was walking my three -- two Yorkies and Lucy, a 14-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever -- home from the park at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon on 6 foot leashes. The street is a quiet backstreet with very little traffic, especially at that hour.

I was crossing the street and heard some voices down at the end of the street. I looked back -- later pacing it off to 90 yards away -- and saw a dog on a long leash and a guy who I thought was on a bicycle. (Turns out it was a skateboard). They were in the street but facing toward a playground and I figured it was kids hanging out there and talking. I was not alarmed because I saw the leash and they were nearly a football field away.

Not 20 seconds later, I turned around and a pitbull on a long flexi lead was pulling to my side of the street and attacking an unaware Lucy from behind. He took off a 3-inch chunk of flesh from her right rear leg and literally dragged her about 4 feet down the street until I scared it away. If the Yorkies had not been on the other side of Lucy, one or both would have been killed.

The lunatic, 29 years old, actually screamed at me for being in his way!

After I dropped Lucy off at the vet -- she's had 2 surgeries now totaling more than $2,000 -- I reported it to animal control. They told me their standard answer: they likely couldn't do anything about it if I didn't have a name.

Thankfully, I had my camera with me and snapped some pictures of the guy while he was screaming at me. I put them on Facebook, got a name and address and reported it to animal control within a few days. He never reported it.

That was more than 3 weeks ago! A week ago, I called for an update and the officer said she had contacted the other guy and was waiting on his statement. Suddenly, she said, "Oh, that's right, we did get his statement back."

The guy's statement mirrored mine on all the details. He saw me from down the street, shouted back there for me to get out of his way, then came ahead as he watched me crossing the street to the side of the road.

The difference in his story is he says LUCY ATTACKED HIS DOG and led to the attack! He said she charged out behind a car and surprised his dog.

How, I asked, could she do that and the only injury to her was on the butt? She was bit from behind while walking the other direction! She didn't even know the other dog was coming. And Lucy is 14 years old and sweet. I have dozens of witnesses who can attest to her never attacking another dog.

Regardless, the dog was not under control! It was on a retractible lead anywhere from 16-20 feet! It could literally go anywhere on that street it wanted to. This guy could have stopped. He could have gone out of leash range. He could have changed his direction and avoided us entirely.

The officer told me at the time that she expected to wrap up the case the next day and classify the dog as a Level II. I'm told that's all I can hope for and I'll have to take him to small claims court to get him to pay for medical bills.

A week later, she calls me with the same question. Did Lucy surprise his dog? I told her I explained that to her a week ago. NO! She was walking home and looking the other way. I told her originally I have a witness, and now she wants to interview the witness. Only problem is, he's from Micronesia, and there's a language barrier. I have no confidence the animal control officer is going to have the wherewithal to get his story.

I could go on about how upset I am, but I'll end this for now. Here are some pictures of Lucy's injury and the attacking dog. I cut off the lunatic's face because this is going to end up in court and I don't want to be accused of purposefully defaming him.