Loose dogs cost Beaufort County man $1,000 in fines
A Brays Island man was slapped with a $1,000 fine Wednesday after a Beaufort County magistrate judge determined he failed to properly restrain his pitbull and bulldog.
The man’s neighbor told the court that the loose dogs wandered into her yard and attacked her poodle and Chihuahua.
On the evening of Feb. 6, the poodle and Chihuahua were in the backyard relieving themselves when their owner said she heard “them crying and screaming.”
She ran outside and saw the pitbull and bulldog “basically playing tug-of-war” with her pets.
“I tried to kick (the attacking dogs) away a couple of times” before they eventually ran off, she said.
The poodle and Chihuahua were left with a variety of injuries including broken ribs, internal bleeding, lost teeth and puncture wounds, the owner of the dogs said.
The defendant said he is “very sorry for what happened to (the) dogs,” but argued his pitbull and bulldog had nothing to do with the attack.
“My dogs were not off my property” during the time of the attack, the man said.
He suggested another animal, perhaps a coyote, was responsible.
But the owner of the poodle and Chihuahua said she had “seen (the defendant’s) pets multiple times” and immediately recognized them as the attackers.
The charges are misdemeanors. The newspaper does not generally name those convicted of misdemeanors.
Lucas High: 843-706-8128, @IPBG_Lucas
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This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Loose dogs cost Beaufort County man $1,000 in fines."