Editor’s note: a previous version of this story had certain dates wrong. They have been corrected.
A West Lincoln Avenue neighborhood has been living in fear of dog attack by a dog belonging to the residents of 205 West Lincoln Ave. Daryl Howard, who lives across the street, witnessed the first attack on the evening of June 15.
According to Howard, a pedestrian was walking past his house and the dog—said to be named Kevin—started running toward the passerby, He attacked the man a few houses down the street. The man took off his backpack to put between him and the dog, as he began screaming for help and asked someone to call 911. Howard shined a bright light on the two and called the police.
In the meantime, the dog’s owners tried calling the dog then retrieved the dog and apologized to the victim.
The second attack occurred on June 27th when Howard walked outside to pick up his newspaper. The dog came from across the street, lunged at him, and tried to bite him, barely missing his hand and its jaws clamped down on his newspaper. During this attack, Howard was yelling for his wife to call the police.
Sapulpa Police Officer Pete Sellers told Sapulpa Times the dog’s owners knew how to avoid being cited by not answering the door when police responded. Each time animal control or police would go to the 205 West Lincoln Ave. residence, the adults in the house would send their children to the door, knowing that the authorities could not take any action until they spoke to an adult. Afterward, the adults would leave the residence, returning later.
Neighbors say the residence in question has a large fenced yard, but the owners would repeatedly let the dog out of the yard, unrestrained.
The third attack, which was also witnessed by Howard, occurred on July 3rd. This time the dog managed to bite a pedestrian. The police again responded, and this time, they spoke to the adults via cellphone. The owners agreed to have the animal removed, and the owners were issued a citation.
Rather than take the dog to the Sapulpa Animal Shelter, it was taken to a residence outside city limits. Sellers said this was because the shelter is at capacity due to a lack of adoptions. July 10th, the dog reappeared at the residence. Howard called the police, and again the owners drove off. The owners are due to appear in court on July 19th.
