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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Two dogs labeled dangerous after killing cat

Two dogs recently seen carrying a freshly killed cat were declared dangerous, but a Spokane County hearing examiner recommended that the dangerous dog label be lifted from one of the animals. The recommendation must be confirmed by the Spokane County Commissioners before the decision is finalized.

A hearing was held recently to determine the fate of Tinkerbell, a female pitbull, and Hal, a heeler mix. The two are owned by different people and in an unusual twist, the owner of the pitbull was reportedly unable to attend the hearing after being severely injured in a car accident in Montana.

Virginia Carter, who lives in the 700 block of North Bessie, testified that her dog began to bark one morning after being let outside. She looked outside and spotted the animals. “I saw the two dogs on each end of the cat, carrying it into (a neighbor’s) back yard,” she said.

Carter said Tinkerbell had the cat’s head in its mouth while Hal carried the opposite end. She said she thought the cat was already dead. “It looked pretty ragged.”

Neighbor Steve Williams was alerted by Carter and came outside in time to see the dogs running away, Williams testified. “I went inside the back yard and saw Jimmy’s cat in my garden,” said Williams, who took a photo of the mangled animal.

The cat belonged to Jim Norris, who was so choked with emotion he could barely speak during the hearing. The cat was 4 years old. Norris said he found the tiny cat as a newborn and fed her with an eye dropper until she was old enough to eat regular food. The cat, though much loved, was never really given a name. “We called her baby kitty,” Norris said.

Norris said he let his cat, who didn’t have front claws, out into his fenced yard. The cat would often jump the fence and roam the area, he said.

Hal’s owner, Amanda Martinez, lives at the corner of Broadway and Bessie. She was dog-sitting Tinkerbell, who had been in her home a few days. She testified that the dogs escaped from her fenced yard.

Martinez argued that her dog Hal got along fine with cats and wasn’t aggressive, but said she wasn’t surprised that Tinkerbell would attack a cat. “She did try to attack my cat,” she said. “My cat was basically crippled for the next week. My dog Hal actually tried to protect the cat.”

Martinez said Tinkerbell had fresh scratch marks on her after the cat was killed, but Hal had no marks. She said that Hal might have helped carry the cat away, but doesn’t believe he participated in the attack.

Hearing examiner Mike Dempsey said that because of Tinkerbell’s wounds and history of aggression toward cats he has no doubt the dog was involved in killing the cat. He recommended that she retain the dangerous label. But he wasn’t convinced that Hal had participated in the killing and also considered that Hal was temperament tested at the shelter he was adopted from and showed no animosity toward cats.

“I had to ask myself, was I convinced that Hal helped kill the cat?” he said. “I couldn’t say that. We don’t know for sure. The burden is on animal control to show that he was a dangerous dog, and I just couldn’t get there.”

Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service director Nancy Hill said she’s happy with the decision to retain the dangerous dog label on Tinkerbell. “I can understand Hal possibly not being a dangerous dog, but he was seen carrying the cat,” she said. “I tend to err on the side of caution.

“The trouble is we don’t have a witness. I think the ruling would have been different if both dogs had been seen when the cat was alive.”

Martinez said late this week that she was informed that Tinkerbell’s owner had died of his injuries. Hill said that in such cases, the owner’s family has 14 days to claim the dog and register it as dangerous after the commissioners finalize the decision. If Tinkerbell is not claimed, she will be euthanized.