The Real Story on the Magnuson Dog Attacks in Seattle

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I spoke with Kara Main-Hester, Ph.D. of Seattle Animal Control this afternoon and found the real scoop about the “attacks” at Magnuson off-leash park in October. The short version is that no Boxer was harmed in the making of this urban legend. Read on for the confirmed information.

Here are the facts of the Boxer story, as told to me by Animal Control:

• There was a senior Boxer at the water with a small dog, and there was a scuffle with pit bull – type dogs. The owner was not bald, but had short hair. He did have tattoos.
• The scuffle seemed to be of the ‘normal’ type that dog park fans see a lot of, with a lot of bluster but no injuries.  I’m sure it was still scary for all involved, but dogs of all breeds do get into arguments and it sounds like this was nothing to be alarmed about.
• The Boxer was never taken to the vet, because there were no injuries.
• No report has been filed by the Boxer’s owner, and she probably wishes this would all just go away (I had heard from another source that her husband didn’t want the dog at the park in the first place). Therefore, animal control is no longer doing special patrols, just the regular ones.
• After weeks of the mystery owner being unidentified, Animal Control got her name and made a visit, 3 weeks after the events at Magnuson.  The Boxer had no signs of injury and the woman reported no injuries.

Given how much this story has been stretched, I feel like we have no real information on who started the scuffle (versus it being an unprovoked attack), among other things.

The Husky incident is being dealt with by the police, not Seattle Animal Control. I’m not sure why.  The Husky did get a broken leg. It may or not have been the same dogs who fought with the Husky as the previous week with the Boxer.

In any event, please stay safe if you’re headed to the dog park.  Things do happen, dogs are dogs, and we need to be ready to get our dogs out of fights, if need be.  Practice coming when called, keep moving, bring your cell phone but don’t use it, and always know where your dog is at.

Written by Grisha Stewart, Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle Tweet This Post!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Tips & Safety . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “The Real Story on the Magnuson Dog Attacks in Seattle”

1. Service Dog Academy Says:
   November 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm

   I find the best way to stay out of trouble at the dog park is to also keep an eye on the OTHER dogs. You can usually tell whos going to pick the fight or have issues by the way they interact with others.

2. kirstan Says:
   November 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

   I’m curious as to who you spoke with at SAC? I spoke to various people and no report of a Boxer being attacked that day was every filed, according to 3 separate people. We’ve also been part of an effort to track down the real truth and we’ve every reason to believe this whole incident was made up. Additionally, no report of a Husky with a broken leg was ever filed that I could find. No one has come forward as a witness to any of these incidents nor has anyone come up with a name of who filed a report.

   So, as ashamed as I am of this whole ‘dog loving’ community for embellishing stories – ‘training dogs to fight at dog parks’, etc. I’d like to know, for sure, if a report was filed and who it was filed with and who you (or someone) spoke with about the Boxer being attacked. We know who the woman is who started this whole mess… but, if indeed you spoke to the ACO and he/she said something contrary to what I was told by ACO’s, I’d like to know the name of the person you spoke with so we can continue straightening this mess out.

   Thanks.
   Kirstan

3. Grisha Says:
   November 4th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

   Hi Kirstan,

   It’s funny that you ask if a report was filed. I just said that no Animal Control said report was filed about the Boxer.

   Because no report filed, I believe Animal Control is now considering this comedy of errors as over. But, as I mentioned, they did send an officer to the home of the owner of the boxer and there was an incident of some sort, as described in my blog post above. As I noted, this incident sounds like more of a dog scuffle than a dog ‘attack’ – a scuffle without injury, which explains the lack of witnesses. I’m sure it was pretty much non-event to the dog walkers who were there, and certainly a non-event to people who didn’t witness it at all. There was no dying (or bloody) Boxer to cement it in their memories.

   I will ask my source whether there’s any need for anonymity.

4. Grisha Says:
   November 5th, 2009 at 10:38 am

   There was no need for anonymity, so Kara’s name is now in the blog post above.

5. anon Says:
   November 5th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

   Maybe we should be cautious of the person who started this urban legend. Is he/she going to be charged with a crime? After all, such hysteria-making has resulted in lynchings and internments of people based on color, creed, etc. And that so many people weren’t skeptical of this story from the beginning is disturbing. Makes me think we haven’t changed much, only who and what we can pick on has.

   Anyway, glad to feel that our dog-parks are at least as safe as high school campuses.

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