Woman Claims Her Dog Not Culprit In Biting Incident

A Spokane Valley woman whose dog is believed to have attacked a 5-year-old neighbor girl now claims her dog is being wrongly accused.

Trina Fleisher has appealed her chow’s designation as a dangerous dog, saying in a letter to county animal control that a red Husky that lives next door bit Chanelle Passar in the face.

Passar told animal control officers who responded to the bite that a red dog bit her. The color of the fur on the chow and Husky are similar.

An appeal hearing has been set for May 5. Fleisher’s dog, known as Louie, is being held at the county animal shelter until the hearing.

The Husky was picked up in an unrelated incident by animal control officers this week because it was running loose.

Fleisher said in her letter to animal control that she has complained several times about the dog being out of its yard. The dog was in Vassar’s yard the day before the girl was attacked, Fleisher said.

“He was in the victim’s yard being kicked, hit and dirt thrown on her,” Fleisher wrote. “He was also jumping on the children.”

John Vassar, Chanelle’s father, told animal control officer Jennifer Kline that the chow was sitting next to his daughter, who was covered in blood, when he stepped out onto the porch following the April 17 attack. Vassar had to throw a bicycle seat at the dog to get it to leave, Kline said.

Another neighbor told Kline she had to chase the chow off of her porch with a broom. The chow was in Fleisher’s yard when Kline arrived.

“I’m just taking the father’s word that the chow was in the yard,” Kline said.

Fleisher has now been cited for owning a dog that exhibits vicious propensities, a misdemeanor, for allowing her dog to run at large, and because it threatened a person.

Animal control officials did not originally ticket Fleisher for the attack because she agreed to have the dog euthanized, said Nancy Sattin, animal control director. Officers did not think it was necessary to write Fleisher a citation because the problem would have been solved, Sattin said.

, DataTimes