Dog mauls two alpacas, killing one

Patti and Gale Burnett are struggling with the idea of never again seeing Cinnamon and Boomer grazing in the fields around their Five Mile Prairie farmhouse.

It’s been nearly two weeks since their two alpacas were mauled by what they believe to be a Dalmatian-pit bull mix. The Burnetts’ emotions are still raw.

Cinnamon, their 7-year-old brown alpaca, died within 36 hours. Boomer, their 8-year-old black alpaca, recovered and has been moved to an alpaca farm several miles away.

The Burnetts, an empty-nest couple in their late 40s, continue to mourn. Yes, time heals. However, they say recovery would come sooner if the owner surrendered the dog.

“We know when it happened. Who the dog is. Where the owners live. Their names, their address, phone number,” said Patti Burnett, clutching a piece of paper with information gathered by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Based on the sheriff’s report and witnesses from the quiet prairie community, the Burnetts say the dog’s owner is 21-year-old Jeremiah Hoke. The reports say Hoke was with his brother, 19-year-old Andrew Hoke, on the day of the attack. The dog’s name is Porsche, like the fast car. The Hokes live on North Hemlock Street, about a one-mile walk from the Burnetts.

“The dog is still out there,” Patti Burnett said. “The dog has gotten a taste of blood killing an alpaca, and he has not been surrendered.”

Bridget Baker, speaking in a telephone conversation on behalf of her sons, Jeremiah and Andrew Hoke, said it would have been unlike Porsche to attack the alpacas. Porsche, she said, has since been given to a stranger, and the family doesn’t know how to find the dog.

The Feb. 11 maulings, now under the jurisdiction of Spokane County Regional Animal Care and Protection Services, allegedly happened when Porsche was loose in the neighborhood and squeezed under the Burnetts’ wire fence. The dog began ripping the underbellies of the 100-pound alpacas, according to the report.

When Natalie Torkar, a teenage neighbor, heard the animals’ shrieks, she raced onto the Burnett property and began kicking the dog. Torkar then ran to construction workers in the neighborhood, who beat the dog with hammers to subdue it, according to the report. The men tied up the dog and put it in the Burnetts’ barn.

The dog owners were identified when an elderly neighbor saw two men driving through the neighborhood searching for their pet. She told them about the attack and that the dog was in the barn. The men untied the dog and walked past the alpacas, ignoring their critical conditions, the neighbor told authorities. The elderly woman said she had called SCRAPS, but the men got to their dog first.

Patti Burnett said when she and her husband came home, the alpacas were resting on their sides, bleeding and struggling to breathe.

They loaded Cinnamon and Boomer in the back of their truck and took them to Mt. Spokane Veterinary Hospital, where they had surgery. Cinnamon died two days later. Within the week, a neighbor’s daughter who runs an alpaca farm offered to take Boomer.

The Sheriff’s Office located the Hoke brothers by tracing their license plate, obtained by the elderly neighbor. Porsche – described by Baker as a “40-pound terrier-pit bull who was a puppy” – is now at large.

According to Dave Reagan, information director in the Sheriff’s Office, Andrew Hoke told officers he gave Porsche to a stranger.

Reagan said the 19-year-old Hoke did not cooperate during questioning, and Deputy Shawn Hause cited him for obstruction of a public servant. He was issued a ticket for a criminal misdemeanor.

“My son got scared,” Baker said. “He gave the dog to the first person he saw. It was a guy named James in a red car.”

Baker said Porsche was seen with a big black dog the day of the attack and “maybe the other dog initiated it but was smart enough to run away.”

Baker also said Porsche got out of the house because someone left the door open.

It wasn’t the first time the dog escaped. Another time, Porsche took off from the Hokes’ house for the nearby Spokane River. The dog was captured and taken to SpokAnimal Care. Baker said the family was at the city animal shelter about five months ago and “there was Porsche, up for adoption.”

Baker, who has three dogs, claimed it would be uncharacteristic of Porsche to attack alpacas.

Perhaps, said Nancy Hill, director of SCRAPS, but not unheard of.

“A dog can be perfectly fine with people and when it gets out, running loose and sees (in this case) alpacas, and it can do a Jekyll and Hyde thing,” Hill said. “It can change with the click of a finger.”

Hill intends to locate the dog and declare it dangerous.

If found and identified, Porsche must be kept in a special pen. The dog must be muzzled and put on a leash. Warning signs must be posted and liability insurance of at least $250,000 must be purchased, according to the county code for dangerous dogs.

Hill said there are about six owners of dangerous dogs in the county who have complied with the code.

For now, the Burnetts anxiously wait. They have canceled a trip to Hawaii. They have written a letter that has been circulated in the neighborhood. They have received condolence notes from people they don’t know.

The Burnetts don’t plan on buying new alpacas.

“I can’t do this again,” Patti Burnett said. “I can’t bring them up here unless something is done.”