Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
With 15 or more reports of dog attacks so far this spring, Havre Animal Control Officer Gordon Inabnit is warning local residents to take care. “About all you can do is be safe and cautious,” Inabnit said Monday. “Be leery of any dog you don’t know.” Springtime draws more people and more dogs outside, he said, and the dogs are more aggressive because this is breeding season, which leads to dog attacks annually being higher this time of year. The recent attacks came from a variety of breeds, with some more severe than others, Inabnit said. A caller who asked to remain anonymous said she was attacked by a pit bull which leaped the fence into her yard, severely biting her and requiring her to go to the emergency room for treatment. Inabnit confirmed that two of the attacks were from pit bulls, but said he can’t say that breed is more likely to attack unprovoked. More than a dozen other attacks were by other breeds, and while pit bull attacks tend to cause more serious wounds, there is no evidence they attack more than other dogs, he said. “It’s a vicious dog problem,” he said. “How do you specify one dog over the other?” The dogs classified as vicious dogs were quarantined to test them for rabies, then put down, he said. None of the dogs tested positive for rabies, Inabnit said, adding that no dogs have tested positive for the disease in Hill County for many years.
