Just days after a vicious pit bull mauling near Cedar Ridge sent a woman to the hospital, a pack of dogs allegedly got loose from a Packard Drive yard and terrorized neighbors and passersby.

The dogs, reportedly pit bull terriers, allegedly had become agitated by people parking in the area to walk to the Nevada County Fair Wednesday afternoon.

The only injury reported, however, was a man who told police he had gotten scratched when he defended himself with a kung fu move to one dog's head.

The first report of a problem came at 12:26 p.m. Wednesday, when a woman from Packard Drive and Butler Street reported two pit bulls tried to attack her husband in their yard. When Animal Control responded, the dogs had disappeared.

At 1:30 p.m., a man from the 500 block of Packard Drive reported four “rabid” pit bulls tried to attack him.

The dogs were all back in their yard when Grass Valley Animal Control Officer Roger Waina arrived, so he left a notice for the owners, he said. But they evidently got loose again, because a man called at 3:54 p.m. to report three loose pit bulls.

It was unclear how the dogs had gotten loose. In one police dispatch report, the neighbor said the dogs had been barking at fair-goers, and she was tired of listening to the barking, so she let them out.

Waina was not aware of that report and said a problem existed with the gate to the property.

Waina added not all the dogs appeared to be pit bulls, with one resembling a Queensland heeler mix.

The owners have promised to fix the gate and were “very apologetic,” Waina said. One of their dogs is still missing and they have come by the shelter repeatedly to look for it, he added.



Mauling victim releasedfrom hospital

The woman who was mauled in the parking lot of a veterinary hospital on Saturday has been released from the hospital, according to Nevada County Animal Control Officer Bruce Baggett.

The woman has not been identified because of an ongoing investigation, Baggett said.

She was airlifted to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with bites to both arms and hands, her left shoulder, left hip, the left side of her rib cage, her back, and the right side of her body above the hip.

“It was pretty bad,” Baggett said. “She has numerous stitches.”

The attack began Saturday around 1:30 p.m., as three pit bulls waited in a sedan to get vaccinated at Best Friends Animal Clinic on Highway 174.

Another vehicle pulled into the parking lot beside the sedan, and the dog in the vehicle started barking at the three pit bulls.

The dog owner's friend, who was waiting with the pit bulls while their owner signed in to the clinic, tried to calm them down. Two of the dogs then started biting her.

Two veterinary technicians in the clinic heard screaming from the parking lot and rushed to pull the dogs off the woman.

The attack only lasted a few seconds, Baggett said.

All three pit bulls are in quarantine, although it appears only two were involved, Baggett added.

“I'm in touch with County Counsel (Mike Jamison) as to how they will proceed,” he said. “It's not a criminal process, it's a civil process. Typically, there has to be intent, or absolute neglect, for criminal charges.”

Pit bulls were originally bred for fighting, and that fight drive remains part of their temperament, Baggett said.

“You can't train it out of them. You have to manage it,” he said. “The problem with this breed is, once they focus on something, oftentimes, you cannot break their focus. Most (other) breeds are not like that.”

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530)477-4229.