SEQUIM — Two dogs jumped their owner’s fence and attacked a woman and her small dog walking about a block from their house — severing the tip of one of the woman’s fingers and severely injuring her dog.
The pit bulls, which attacked Sequim resident Sandie McMillon last Tuesday at about 11:15 a.m., are now quarantined with the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society, said Officer Maris Turner, spokeswoman for the Sequim Police Department.
Both McMillon and the dogs’ owner, Philip Booth, live near the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Maple Street in Sequim.
“We are in the process of having them declared dangerous dogs,” Turner said.
When a dog is declared dangerous, the owner then has a long, tedious and expensive process to bring them home, she said.
The owner may also choose to have the dogs euthanized, she said.
Booth was notified last week and has about a week to request a hearing.
The dogs — which are both brindle in color — are named Ali and Sarge, Turner said.
He has two other dogs, but neither of them is considered dangerous, Turner said.
McMillon declined to comment, saying her attorney, Patrick McMenamin, had advised her not to speak to the media.
McMenamin did not return a phone call for comment.
A neighbor, JoAnn Ehly, said Odie, McMillon’s dog, had been bitten on the neck and now has many stitches and draining tubes.
“He is a small dog, a chihuahua mix of some sort,” she said. “One of the pit bulls picked it up, and that is how Sandie got her injuries — fighting for her dog.
“One of our other neighbors found the little dog when the owner of the pit bulls came out and yelled, and they went home.
Ehly said she and another neighbor took Odie to a veterinarian.
She also said two fingers of McMillon’s were bitten, one above the fingernail and one below. The one with the bite above the fingernail should recover and retain the nail, but the other was bitten at the top finger joint.
Some of the requirements for dangerous dogs include having a locked, six-sided enclosure for the dogs and always having them muzzled, Turner said.
“They also must post that they are dangerous dogs,” Turner said.
“The process length varies depending on the owner and situation.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
