Dog attack prompts ordinance talk

Local News

August 13, 2011

By C.V. Moore Register-Herald Reporter The Register-Herald Sat Aug 13, 2011, 12:03 AM EDT

OAK HILL — A dispute over a dog attack landed an Oak Hill man in cuffs Wednesday.

Donald Moore was arrested and charged with two counts of leash law violation for an incident that occurred July 12.

Charles and Sharon Miller, also of Oak Hill, allege that Moore’s two pit bulls viciously attacked their standard poodle while they were walking it on Main Street in front of Wendy’s.

“Her chest was torn open in the fight,” says Charles Miller, who also claims his foot was injured from fending off the attacking dogs.

He says vet and hospital bills so far total $1,200-$1,500.

Moore says his leashed dog got tangled up on a railing, wriggled out of its collar, and ran up the street to where the Millers were walking. He says his dog is innocent.

“She never harmed their dog until their dog growled at her. Once they got into a confrontation, I broke it up immediately. Their dog was not hurt.”

Nevertheless, he says he was forced to give his two pit bulls over to a humane officer Wednesday.

“I think they’re wrong for doing what they did and making me get rid of my dogs,” says Moore.

Oak Hill Chief of Police Michael Whisman, however, says that Moore was not under any kind of order to hand them over, and that he did so voluntarily.

The Millers have proposed that the Oak Hill Town Council adopt a vicious dog ordinance that would define a vicious dog, rather than ban certain specific breeds of dogs.

Moore, at least on that count, agrees.

‘“Pit bull’ is just a name,” he says. “A dog is what you make of a dog. If you train a dog to watch your house, that’s what he’s supposed to do — protect your territory.”

But Charles Miller says, “There’s a big difference between a dog that says ‘This is my yard, I’m protecting it,’ and a dog that comes at us that way. It scared us.”

The Millers say they want the community to be able to walk through downtown Oak Hill safely.

Now that the pit bulls have been handed over, they say they are dropping the charges.

As of Thursday, the charges were still on file.

— E-mail: cmoore@register-herald.com

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