An elderly couple and their dog are recovering tonight from cuts and other injuries caused by two separate and unrelated dog attacks in one week.
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The first attack involved at least two stray dogs that barged into Carl and Linda Kegley’s Dayton backyard and harassed Carl and his dog Bailey, the couple said Friday.
“They tried to tear her apart,” Carl Kegley said. When he used his body to protect Bailey, the strays went after him.
Days after that attack, an off-leash dog darted away from its owner, entered the backyard and pointed it at Bailey.
“It was so chaotic. It’s almost like a dream or nightmare,” Linda recalled.
The owner used a garden hoe to hit his animal and get it off Bailey, she said.
As News Center 7’s Kayla McDermott reported at age 11: the Kegleys are sad, scared and angry.
Stray animals will be outside because of the warm weather and because shelters are full, said Kara Hamby, public information officer for the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center.
“We’re as full as ever,” she said. “There are a lot of dogs that need homes.”
Whether they have a home or not, dogs sometimes attack for no reason.
Kegley fell as she tried to reach Bailey during that second attack. She needed stitches after the ordeal. Due to the force the owner exerted on his dog, the garden hoe was torn into three pieces. Then both ran off.
Hamby said the Ohio Revised Code requires owners to maintain reasonable control of their dogs at all times.
The Kegleys want to press charges. But since the man ran away, there’s not much they can do other than comfort Bailey.
“She’s really traumatized,” Linda said. “She’s not the same.”
Hamby suggested that anyone who encounters stray animals and believes they may become violent should contact ARC at 937-898-4457.
