Two pit bulls invade N.C. home; family's dog killed

KITTY HAWK, N.C. 

Mark and Diane Kent fenced their yard on Poor Ridge Road so their two dogs could romp outside while they were at work. If their Labrador retriever and bichon frise wanted to go inside, they could head through a dog door to a ground-floor room with heat and air conditioning and two fleece dog beds.

On Monday, two pit bulls got inside the fence and chased the Labrador, Jazz, through the door. She was found in a pool of blood on the floor of the room.

A neighbor spied a bloodied pit bull behind the fence and scooped up the bichon, Zack, the Kents said.

On Wednesday, according to the county, Nikki Canady, the pit bulls' owner, paid the Dare County Animal Shelter a $25 fee for each dog and took them back home. On Friday, however, the dogs were seized under a court order.

Canady does not have a listed phone number to contact her.

"It's unconscionable that these dogs were released back to their owners one day after the attack," Mark Kent said. "I can't understand it. "

Shelter Director Denise Lambiotte said her hands are tied.

"There is nothing in the ordinance that says the county or the animal shelter can hold an animal that's been involved in an animal-on-animal attack," she said.

"I can guarantee you that the Dare County Animal Shelter did everything it could do to persuade the animals' owner to relinquish the dogs to the shelter for euthanasia. She would not do it, and I had no lawful means for keeping the dogs in the animal shelter."

The town police issued a citation to the owner, Lambiotte said.

The pit bulls, 1-1/2-year-old male "Shine" and 4-year-old female "Isabel," each weigh about 50 pounds and are fixed, Lambiotte said.

They had been seen loose in December, were impounded and were released to the owner, Lambiotte said, but there had not been reports of other aggressive incidents.

Even if the dogs had attacked a child, Lambiotte said, the county would be able to do little more than hold the dogs for the state-mandated 10-day quarantine period.

The county health department has begun the process of declaring the dogs "potentially dangerous" as defined in the state statute, said County Attorney Bobby Outten.

Although the law makes the owner of a dangerous dog liable and would require the dog to be confined properly, Outten said, it does not give authorities the right to confiscate the animal.

Outten said the district attorney is reviewing the case, and the county is investigating whether it can draft an animal control ordinance stricter than the state statute.

As a "one-bite" state, liability is not assigned to a dog owner in North Carolina until after a dog bites someone a second time. The state statute, he said, does not deal with the severity of the biting incident or whether the victim is an animal or a human.

Kent said golden-colored Jazz had survived a bout with throat cancer two years ago after undergoing treatment in Raleigh. The 7-year-old dog was doing well.

Now, the couple is so shaken, he said, they plan to put their house up for sale and move. Zack, the bichon who adored Jazz, is depressed and mopey.

An autopsy of Jazz is being conducted by her veterinarian, Kent said. He said he plans to consult a lawyer.

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com