Dog attack raises legal concerns
A dog attack that ended with a dead emotional support animal, a wounded shoulder and a lack of punishment thus far for the attacking canine, has brought new attention to leash law enforcement and gained the interest of the Eighth Judicial District Attorney, who is pursuing the case with the help of the Taos County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a police report, it started on the afternoon of Jan. 3. Michelle Corey and her friend Paula Madappa told Taos County Animal Control officer Rita Cárdenas they were walking Corey’s two small Papillon dogs at the end of Piedmont Road near the Carson Interagency Hotshot Base.
When they rounded a corner, a big German shepherd came running towards them. As Corey saw the shepherd coming, she said she quickly picked up her two small dogs (both were on leashes), but it was too little too late. Corey said the shepherd jumped up and
ripped her dog Yoki from her arm, leaving her with a large bruise on her shoulder.
As Corey fought to keep Yoki out of the mouth of the attacking dog, she was able to free him by kicking and shouting at the shepherd. She also screamed at the dog’s owner. Then the shepherd lunged again, grabbing Yoki a second time. According to Corey, the shepherd “began ripping my dog apart.” While Madappa also tried to free Yoki by kicking the attacking dog, the wounds the 7-year-old Papillon suffered proved to be too much for the animal, and he died shortly after the attack on the way to the vet.
All the while, according to Corey and Madappa, the owner of the shepherd – listed in police reports as Loretta Chuzum – and Chuzum’s friend were slowly walking towards the scene of the incident, not seeming to take notice of the dire situation in front of them.
According to police reports and testimony from Corey, Chuzum walked up, grabbed her shepherd by the collar and said “bad dog,” seemingly unfazed by the horror that just unfolded. Madappa backed up Corey’s claim that Chuzum made no effort to stop the situation.
Chuzum’s testimony, however, to animal control officer Cárdenas differed from Corey’s and Madappa’s. Chuzum claimed she tried to stop the dog by running up and using a shock collar. Chuzum did not respond to multiple email and phone messages left seeking comment.
Regardless how the unfortunate situation occurred, the facts remain clear: an off-leash shepherd attacked and killed another smaller dog who was leashed; the owner of the shepherd was able to retrieve her dog the next day, and only received a citation for not having her dog on a leash; the dog was not issued a Dangerous Dog Permit under the New Mexico Dangerous Dog Act (NMDDA), as would be the case for any dog who resided in the state.
According to the police report, animal control officer Cárdenas said the reason she did not issue a dangerous dog permit to Chuzum was because Chuzum did not live in New Mexico. But the New Mexico Dangerous Dog Act does not specify that a dog owner must live in the state in which the attack occurs.
In terms of jurisdiction, the NMDDA states that “the animal control authority may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the animal is located for a warrant to seize the animal,” and does not speak to whether or not dogs from other states can or cannot be charged. In this case, the attacking dog was located in Taos when the incident occurred.
Bureau of Land Management agent Adam Hurt, who arrived on scene shortly after the incident occurred at the request of Corey, said that he was prepared to charge Chuzum with federal charges if the sheriff’s office did nothing.
“If the county wasn’t going to enforce it, we felt like it was an act where something needed to be done,” said Hurt. He explained that with any federal law “it doesn’t matter where you’re from, if you’re breaking a federal law you’ll be charged for it, whether you’re in the state, out of the state or out of the country.”
Hurt said he handed over all of his files on the case to the Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s office, and said he is glad they are taking up the case. However, the reason the case finally moved forward was because of Corey’s determination to seek justice for her dog Yoki.
Eighth Judicial District Attorney Marcus Montoya said he can’t comment on this specific case due to the ongoing investigation, and that they “are still determining how to handle this.”
Montoya did say “whenever a dog owner allows their animal to threaten or harm another person, I take it seriously. It is important that the community understands that it is unacceptable to have dangerous dogs run wild; and that punishment and restitution for damages will follow such incidents.”
Statistics from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office indicate there were a total of 84 dog bites in the past year (both to people and other animals); 63 of the bites occurred in Taos County, 20 in the town of Taos, and one in Taos Ski Valley. Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe explained this number is out of 1,243 total animal control calls in 2020.
However, Pennie Wardlow, executive director of Four Corners Animal League, says dog bites are most likely being under-reported.
“I hear from people when they’ve been bitten or their animal had been attacked, and most often they don’t report it,” said Wardlow. She said sometimes people think nothing will happen, but more often than not, cases go unreported because “the people don’t want the animal killed or euthanized, because they don’t think it’s the animal’s fault. It’s the person’s fault for not taking responsibility for their animal and keeping them intact,” she said.
Wardlow said reporting an incident is still important; that it will bring much needed attention to the issue.
“I encourage [people] to call animal control and make a report because then we can have [an accurate] tally of how many incidents happen. That, at least, is important to know,” she said, adding, the bottom line is that “people need to take responsibility and know their animal, and really just put them on leashes so this doesn’t happen.”
Wardlow suggested several things could be done to curb the number of the incidents, including carrying a walking stick or pepper spray on walks. She also said the county could help by putting signs at trailheads urging people to leash their animals or even muzzle potentially dangerous animals.
Wardlow said to solve the problem, there needs to be a collaborative effort between multiple agencies. So far, she said her organization will be working with Taos County Animal Control to target areas “where there are a lot of dogs at large,” but more needs to be done.
She recommended that the sheriff’s office, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and agencies like Stray Hearts and Four Corner’s Animal League, come together to work on ways to solve the problem. “With many more people there can be more dialogue and more solutions.”
‘People need to take responsibility and know their animal, and really just put them on leashes so this doesn’t happen.’ PENNIE WARDLOW Executive director of Four Corners Animal League