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Dog, seen near bike fall, under scrutiny

Animal Services is investigating a Rottweiler whose owner was cited twice. The cyclist had no bite marks.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published September 10, 2005

SAFETY HARBOR - A Pinellas County Animal Services official said this week the department has begun an investigation into a dog found near a Clearwater businessman critically injured after apparently falling off his bicycle on Aug. 26.

No one has determined whether the 10-month-old Rottweiler played any role in the accident that put George Spaulding, 50, into Tampa General Hospital with a severe frontal lobe brain injury.

But Animal Services officials have issued the dog's owner, John Woodhull, two citations, said Linda Britland, a field manager for Pinellas County Animal Services. One is a $113 citation for having a guard dog without a license, and the other is a $138 for maintaining a public nuisance.

During an investigation, Animal Services determined that the dog had gotten loose and chased people in the neighborhood, Britland said. That was the basis of the nuisance citation.

"He has up to 20 days to pay or go for an arraignment," Britland said.

Woodhull said he won't fight the charges, and will pay the fines, which will total more than $250.

Animal Services also is looking into whether the 70-pound dog should be declared dangerous and euthanized, Britland said.

County animal control officials began an investigation into the dog, whose name is the Polish word for a derogatory term, after reading a Sept. 3 Times story about Spaulding's injury, Britland said. On Friday, two weeks after the accident, his condition had been upgraded to serious.

Spaulding is the president of Spaulding Craft, which manufactures columns for a family-owned division of Florida Columns. He was out for an evening ride when he was found by passers-by a few hundred yards from his company's facility on Harbor Lake Drive in an industrial area of the city.

Two people were helping Spaulding, who was conscious, get off the road, when Safety Harbor firefighter/paramedics arrived on the scene.

The emergency personnel said Spaulding's helmet was lying on the ground near his feet and the dog was 50 yards away, creeping up and barking at the fire truck.

Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Laura Sullivan, who is familiar with the dog, responded.

In her report, she said the animal "was pacing, and would occasionally approach emergency personnel in a menacing manner."

She used a bag of dog snacks to lure the Rottweiler to an enclosure. Pinellas County Animal Services picked up the dog and took it to its facility.

Woodhull said the dog "had all his shots." But Animal Services could find no records to support the claim, so the Rottweiler was given a rabies vaccination and released.

Officials don't know of any witnesses to the accident and said Spaulding had no bite marks.

Deputy Sullivan was once nipped by the dog when she put her hand inside the yard where he lives, said Pinellas County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner. Although it was considered a minor bite, Sullivan went to the hospital to have it checked out.

The dog was given to Woodhull by Woodhull's cousin. Almost immediately, he was put to work guarding a construction storage yard at 1010 Harbor Lake Drive.

He lives in a wooden doghouse toward the back of the weed-filled property. His job is to protect tools and other valuables that were sometimes stolen from the place, Woodhull said.

Employees at the yard would regularly bring supplies in and take them out, opening and closing the gate, Woodhull said. From time to time, the dog would sneak out and try to play with workers at other businesses in the city's industrial area, said Jason Tiffany, who worked at Water Boy Inc., a bottled water distributor, across the street.

He made friends with the dog, which he said didn't appear to have any playmates and seemed to get little affection.

One day, the Rottweiler was standing near or on the Water Boy property when Tiffany was opening the gate to allow a tractor-trailer full of spring water to roll in to the unloading area.

"My boss wouldn't do it," Tiffany said. "The dog had run him in a couple of times."

After the truck went through, Tiffany started to close the gate when the dog nipped him.

He called it a "warning bite," and said his skin wasn't broken.

Still, it made an impression on him.

"I've had dogs all my life, and I just don't trust him," Tiffany said. "He's not a very intelligent dog. He could easily go off on someone."

Britland said dogs that are ruled to be dangerous through a process in which the animals' owner can appeal the determination are euthanized. Each determination is made on a case-by-case basis, Britland said. She said officials typically interview people who live or work near the animal and find out about its behavior during the investigation.

Woodhull told a Times reporter on Thursday that he was ready to sign the dog over immediately.

Later, he decided to wait until the investigation is completed.

"A lady at Animal Services swore up and down they would be fair," Woodhull said.

If the dog is determined to be dangerous, he will turn him over to Animal Services, he said.

Two days after being turned over, the dog would be destroyed, Britland said.

"The dog can't talk, the dog can't provide a defense," Woodhull said. "My dog is paying the ultimate price."

If he is allowed to keep the dog, Woodhull said he is getting a 30-foot chain and tying the dog up permanently in the yard.

"He's not going to get out again," Woodhull said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 10, 2005, 01:22:18]