Eugene Animal Services on rules for owning dangerous dogs after hybrid attack

EUGENE, Ore. — Wolf hybrids on the loose in the Friendly neighborhood of Eugene caused a scare for locals and injuries to another dog.

Now, with the animals off the streets, Eugene Animal Services want residents to understand the rules around owning a dangerous dog.

Two wolf hybrids said to live near 32nd Avenue and Ferry Street were known for getting loose.

“In the past five years, they have been posted on Facebook that they have gotten out and either attacked a dog or attacked a cat,” said Kenzi Miller, nutrition educator at The Healthy Pet. “I think it's really irresponsible for an owner to have a dog and not be able to properly care for them and especially a wolf hybrid dog. They require certain needs, and I don't think a neighborhood type setting really meets their requirements at all.”

A resident posted on Reddit Christmas Day that while walking near Friendly Park, one of the two hybrid dogs attacked and bit their small poodle, but the couple fought the dogs off.

The poster said they hit the dog on the head with a mug to chase them off, and the dogs then ran down Monroe Street.

The city of Eugene Animal Services would later capture the hybrids.

“Our Animal Welfare officer responded, recognized the dogs from a previous welfare check we had on the dogs because the dogs were vocal they were barking. The owner recently passed away a couple months ago, so when they were off leash, one of the dogs attacked another dog that was being walked on leash,” said Deb Sporcich, Animal Welfare supervisor, Animal Services.

Animal Services says the dogs are about four or five years old and could be a mix of malamute, husky, German Shephard, and wolf.

Workers at The Healthy Pet store in the neighborhood familiar with the animals say the dogs came from a breeder in Kansas and that breeders are partly to blame.

They say breeders should ensure wolf hybrids go to homes with plenty of acreage and opportunities to run off leash.

Neighbors we spoke with say they saw the post on Reddit and the Nextdoor App, but they never saw the hybrids themselves.

Animal Services tells us one of the dogs is now classified as a level three potentially dangerous dog (PDD) for the attack and warns other dog owners the designation comes with consequences.

“It's level one through five, so level one is a dog getting loose and chasing a cat across the street, and a level five would be a dog getting loose and killing the cat,” Sporcich said. “Level one, it's a regulation that lasts for six months. It's a lower fee, lower restrictions. Level five — higher fee, longer; it's a year restriction, and it's having the dog on a leash and a muzzle.”

PDD owners must then buy a dog tag for a one time fee of between $25 and $200 based on the dog's danger level.

Level four, which comes from a bite on a human, requires a muzzle as well as level five when an animal kills a small animal or severely injures a human.

PDD must wear a collar noting their classification, and a sign must be posted on the fence where the dog lives.

The PDD regulations end after six months or after a year for levels three through five.

Meanwhile Animal Services warns that dogs within city limits must be leashed according to law, or they are considered at large when off their property.

“You are supposed to have your dog under control by a leash no longer than eight-feet long, and you have to be in control of that leash,” said Sporcich. “The thing that I hear the most is that, ‘My dog is friendly.” Well, that's not okay to break the law if your dog is friendly because there are a lot of people out there that have had a negative experience with a dog that are scared of dogs.”

Animal Services says there was a delay in classification of one of the dogs as a PDD.

As for the hybrids at the center of this week's attack, the dogs are now at Crux Sanctuary in Eugene; although, one of the dog’s placed there could be in jeopardy due to the attack since Crux doesn’t take in aggressive dogs.

Marra Watson, who owns Crux and houses and trains hybrid dogs at her own home, says one of the dogs in the attack is injured and had a vet appointment Friday afternoon.

Animal Services has about 40 PDD classifications every year.