An Enid, Oklahoma woman, Michelle Slaughter was attacked by a pack of five large dogs last week. She was bitten repeatedly and the dogs refused to stop the attack until an armed neighbor shot one of them. Then the other four dogs ran off.
The dogs had escaped from their pen. Their owner, a firefighter, was in the northwestern part of the state, battling a wildfire at the time.
Otis Arnold was on his way home from work, and stopped to help right after one of the dogs, a Belgian (Malinois), was shot and killed by a neighbor who had stepped in.
“She was screaming that she thought the dogs were trying to tear her arm off,” Arnold said.
It was only after the gunshot that the other four dogs, all German Shepherds, ran off.
“One of them had a 4×4, and they were trying to fight the dogs, and it still wasn’t keeping them off.” Arnold said.
Slaughter sustained serious injuries to the stomach and arms and was taken to a Durant hospital. She’s expected to be okay.
“No one would’ve thought it wasn’t safe to just walk down the road, that dogs would attack you,” Arnold said. “Nobody deserves to be attacked by dogs.”
Dog owners are legally responsible for the actions of their animals. Under Oklahoma law, dogs that are attacking livestock can be shot by the property owner. Strangely though, there is no provision for shooting dogs that attack people. Oklahoma law allows people to shoot other people that are attacking them, however.
But while the neighbor’s actions might have been illegal, Marshall County Undersheriff Ed Kent showed common sense and discretion.
One of his neighbors shot that dog during the attack, which is against the law in Oklahoma.
“In Oklahoma, unless a dog is attacking your livestock and is on your property, you can’t shoot a dog,” Marshall County Undersheriff Ed Kent said. “However, these guys saved a life yesterday, so they’re good to go in our book.”
Most adult men can handle a single dog in combat, if they are determined and ruthless. Almost any weapon, even improvised weapons, will give a man the edge. But any number of dogs greater than one poses a significant threat. Dogs instinctively know how to take down larger animals when in packs.
Ms. Slaughter is lucky there was an armed neighbor who was willing to intervene. She could easily have been killed. She sustained over 40 lacerations requiring hundreds of stitches to close.
The use of firearms to defend against animal attacks is seldom mentioned as a reason to keep and bear arms. Maybe it should be.
©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.