Owner To Destroy Dog After Latest Incident

Axel, a Rottweiler-mix who took a chunk out of a jogger’s leg in January, snapped at a cable television installer Thursday.

The lunge will be the dog’s last, said Monica Hulubei, Axel’s owner.

“He’s going to be put to sleep,” Hulubei said.

The cable installer was working next door to Hulubei’s South Hill residence when the dog, who was wandering freely, attacked him.

The victim, who asked not to be identified, told SpokAnimal officers he wasn’t bitten, but only because he fended off the dog with his tool belt.

Axel was declared a “dangerous dog” by the city hearing examiner last month after he bit Stephanie Schrimshire, 59, on the left ankle.

Schrimshire, a teacher at North Central High School, spent five days in the hospital after the attack.

SpokAnimal released the dog to Hulubei’s care after she complied with all the requirements for keeping a “dangerous dog,” said Mike Wilkerson, field supervisor at SpokAnimal.

Hulubei, who was appealing the ruling, purchased a $150 dangerous dog license and $50,000 in liability insurance, and posted dangerous dog signs.

She also agreed to abide by regulations requiring that Axel be muzzled and leashed any time he was not kenneled or confined to her home.

SpokAnimal director Gail Mackie, said at the time of Axel’s release that a violation of any of the conditions could result in criminal charges.

The cable installer told Wilkerson that Axel was unleashed and that no one was around when the dog attacked him.

Hulubei said she is destroying the dog “because there is too much against me. I cannot fight the city.”

Hulubei had a veterinarian remove the dog’s front and canine teeth after he bit Schrimshire, but Wilkerson said the dog still had two-thirds of his teeth.

“The owner has no concept,” Wilkerson said. “I tried to explain to her a car door doesn’t have teeth, but when it closes on you it hurts.”

, DataTimes