Dog Destroyed For Attack On Veradale Youngster

Animal control officials on Wednesday euthanized a Chesapeake retriever that attacked a 10-year-old Veradale boy earlier this month, tearing a gash that needed 25 stitches to close.

The 125-pound dog, known as Dutch, had been confined at the county animal shelter since June 12, the day after it bit Michael Notrica.

“It’s not a nice dog,” said Debbie Notrica, the boy’s mother.

Michael, who knows the dog’s owners, was attacked when he stopped at their house for a drink of water on his way home from playing basketball at school. The dog ran from the back yard and jumped the boy, opening a jagged wound along Michael’s left bicep.

“It was not a provoked attack,” Debbie Notrica said. “The dog just ran out.”

Notrica took her son to Valley Hospital and Medical Center where he underwent 1-1/2 hours of surgery. He was released the next day.

Traci Rennaker, who owned the dog with husband Lane, said the incident shocked her.

Rennaker described the dog as good with people, including children. The dog frequently played patiently while the couple’s children, ages 2 and 4, rough-housed with it, and often slept with them, she said.

“He just ran up to play with the kid,” Rennaker said. “It wasn’t an attack. He just wanted to play.”

Lane Rennaker took the dog to the county animal shelter the day after the incident. He told animal control officials the dog was a stray he found about 10 days earlier and did not mention the bite, according to a non-owner animal release form Rennaker signed that asked if the animal had bitten anyone within the past 15 days.

An animal control official unknowingly vaccinated and cared for the dog like a stray instead of as a dangerous animal, said Nancy Sattin, county animal control director.

A copy of an animal license application shows Rennaker licensed the dog with the county in April. An animal control officer investigating Notrica’s bite complaint eventually realized the dog was responsible for the attack, Sattin said.

Rennaker denied her husband tried to deceive animal control officials, saying her husband told them about the bite.

“It’s not like we were trying to hide anything,” Rennaker said. “We (turned the dog over) right away. We’re trying to do the right thing by having the dog put to sleep.”

Rennaker’s husband took the dog to the shelter because the couple no longer trusted it, she said.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Rennaker said. “I couldn’t trust him enough to keep him around little kids.”

Sattin said the Rennakers would not be cited for the attack because the dog was euthanized.

Debbie Notrica said her son now fears dogs, including the family’s 6-year-old Akita. She is angry the Rennakers’ dog was not restrained.

“It should have been penned or tied or something,” Notrica said.

Rennaker said the incident has been difficult for her family to understand, adding that she stayed at the hospital with Michael’s family until he was out of surgery.

“He just thought the kid was playing,” Rennaker said. “He has never bitten before.”

, DataTimes