Man switches plea in police chief dog attack
courtesy photo
St. Ignatius Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson was so severely lacerated in a dog attack that doctors couldn’t stitch the wounds for fear of infection.
courtesy photo
St. Ignatius Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson was so severely lacerated in a dog attack that doctors couldn’t stitch the wounds for fear of infection.
courtesy photo
St. Ignatius Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson was so severely lacerated in a dog attack that doctors couldn’t stitch the wounds for fear of infection.
courtesy photo
St. Ignatius Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson was so severely lacerated in a dog attack that doctors couldn’t stitch the wounds for fear of infection.
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ST. IGNATIUS – Last week, the owner of a pitbull that attacked the St. Ignatius police chief pled guilty to charges of having two unlicensed dogs and one dog at large, but withdrew a guilty plea for owning a vicious dog after he learned it meant euthanasia might be in order for the animal.
The owner could face up to $600 in fines and six months in jail if convicted.
According to Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson, Jeremy Samsel entered the pleas on March 17 in municipal court, just days after Ferguson was attacked by the dog.
Ferguson responded to a call at the corner of Emerald Street and 2nd Street on March 13 at 10:26 a.m. where a person said a neighbor’s pitbull hand entered their yard and was killing their dog. When Ferguson and a sheriff’s deputy arrived, they found the pitbull inside the reporting party’s yard and the reporting party visibly shaken.
After trying to get the pitbull into its owner’s yard, the dog took off running. When Ferguson caught and leashed it, the dog looked friendly, and he told the sheriff’s deputy that he didn’t need back up. Just moments later the dog turned on the chief and attacked. Once Ferguson was on the ground the dog tried to bite his head, and he threw up his arm to shield himself. Ferguson tased the dog because he didn’t want to fire gunshots in the densely populated area.
The sheriff’s deputy returned to aid Ferguson, along with an ambulance service and city council member Daren Incashola. Ferguson was bandaged and underwent medical treatment for his injuries. Doctors said he didn’t need immediate surgery, but that the injuries would take him off the job for two to four weeks. Some of the gnashes required stiches, but others were left open to drain to avoid infection.
Ferguson wants the dog to be euthanized.
“What if it hadn’t been me? What if it was a little kid?” he asked.
A judge will decide the fate of the animal, which was under a mandatory 10-day rabies quarantine last week. Ferguson said the quarantine had expired on Monday and that there was a 10-day appeal process before the judge can order euthanasia. Ferguson said the owner had hired an attorney.
The dog’s owner couldn’t be reached for comment. Ferguson said that officers responded to another vicious dog call for a separate dog belonging to the same owner just days after the attack. The call allegedly came in at the same time the owner, trying to plead his case, was being interviewed by a TV news crew, Ferguson said.
The police chief is trying to make people more aware of vicious dogs since the attack. He stopped by the Ronan Police Department to talk about the matter last week. The Ronan City Council has worked for the past six months to draft better dog ordinances, after resident April Godwin complained in July of vicious dogs at large that killed other animals. Another attack on a person occurred in February, and Police Chief John Mitchell asked the council in a March meeting to revisit the ordinance revisions that had largely dropped from council discussion.
The Ronan council intends to meet with representatives of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in an attempt to make policy that fills some gaps between local and tribal law regarding vicious dogs.
In the meantime Ferguson said people should make sure they always have control of their animals and train them properly.
Don’t raise a mean dog, or even a cat,” Ferguson said.
