Man mauled by dogs, flown to hospital

He reportedly rode his bike with his girlfriend to visit a home in the 1300 block of Bellefair Avenue shortly after 11:30 a.m. when he crossed an invisible fence, police said, and attempted to pet one of the dogs. The dogs attacked him and began dragging him through the yard.

“They just went into attack mode,” said neighbor Vincent Brown. “All three pulled him on the ground. We beat one but the other two wouldn’t get off him. Someone even tried to hit one with a car. Nobody could do anything.”

Police shot one of the dogs, and the animals fled to the kennels in the yard. The Clark County Humane Society transported the injured dog and one other away from the incident.

The third dog ran away, and police officers and the Clark County Humane Society continue to look for it, Springfield Police Chief Stephen Moody said.

“This was a serious situation. The officer had to shoot one of (the dogs),” Moody said. “They were standing over their prey, so to speak, when officers arrived.”

Karlon Avery owns the two confiscate dogs and was on his way to the humane society later Tuesday afternoon to speak with officers and see his animals. He said the missing dog is his brother’s, but is also trained with the invisible fence.

Avery said he has mixed feelings about the situation, as the victim is his friend, but also he has taken care to warn him about the dogs.

“There’s signs up, and you see the dogs sitting outside,” Avery said. “There’s an invisible fence, and flags marking where it is and they all have shock collars.”

Avery said he was able to speak with Lasik before he went into surgery.

Despite Avery’s precautions, the humane society has had issues before with these dogs.

Jimmy Straley, director of the humane society, said there have been two other incidents at the home. He said in both cases children crossed the invisible fence and were bitten. Under the law, owners of “vicious” dogs are cited only if the dog attacks without provocation, and in those cases it was ruled that the dogs were provoked.

“Under the law a dog has to be under adequate control,” Straley said. “But what’s adequate control to me may not mean the same to you.”

The humane society has custody of the two Cane Corsos but Straley said they don’t know what will happen to the dogs until the case goes through court.

“We’re going to wait and see what happened to the poor man who was hurt and mauled,” he said. “We deal with dog bites every day, every week, but this is only the second real mauling I’ve been to. They are few and far between.”

Cane Corsos, which resemble pit bulls but are a different breed, are becoming more popular in the area. The dogs typically weigh between 88 pounds and 110 pounds depending on gender, according to dogbreederinfo.com.

“Hopefully they are not the new designer breed of dangerous dog,” Straley said.

Currently, police officers aren’t considering pressing charges against the owner or the victim, Moody said. The victim has been friends with the owner for years and has known the dogs since they were puppies.

“Certainly, we’re going to be evaluating this. In these dog-bite situations, we take our lead from the humane society,” Moody said. “I know the neighbors are upset. They’re concerned about these dogs in the neighborhood and we share that concern.”