04:08 PM PDT on Monday, August 9, 2004

By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff

BATTLE GROUND, Wash. – A man and six-year-old boy were attacked Sunday by three dogs that were part of a pack of pit bulls that broke through a fence and ran loose through a northwest Battle Ground neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.

kgw.com viewer photo/Tom Barker Battle Ground, Wash. police and code enforcement officers bring two of the pitbulls under control.

The 27-year-old biting victim, Michael J. Cunningham, and a neighbor used metal poles to drive the dogs back into their owner’s yard on 305 NW 16th Ave. before police and animal control officers arrived, said Lt. Roy Butler of the Battle Ground police department.

Four pit bulls were taken to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington in Vancouver, said spokesperson Kate Dulemba. A fifth pit bull was caught Sunday night, Butler said.

Three of the pit bulls were released to the owner, Monica Denise Hanson, but one remains in quarantine for 10 days, Dulemba said.

KGW Georgie is in custody at the Humane Society in Vancouver.

The fate of Georgie, the pit bull terrier mix, is in the hands of authorities after the 10 days are up, Dulemba said. Georgie was one of the dogs that bit Cunningham on the hand and scratched the boy on the ankle, police and the Humane Society said.

Hanson, 47, faces a lengthy list of misdemeanor charges and civil infractions. Police found 15 dogs, many of whom were puppies, at her home. Their living conditions were “poor,” Butler said.

“That’s all about what I want to say about it,” he said.

Hanson was charged with five counts of animal license violations, 15 counts of animal cruelty by failing to provide minimum care, 15 counts of animal behavior and nuisance violations, and four counts of not having dogs under restraint.

The Clark County prosecutor will decide soon if Hanson faces more serious charges as the investigation continues, Butler said.

Battle Ground city codes limit a resident to owning three adult dogs. According to Washington state statute, owners whose pets attack or kill a victim face prosecution if they knew prior to the attack that their animal was dangerous. Animal attacks that cause injury or death are considered a felony under Washington law.

The encounter with the dogs left neighbors terrified. Neighbor Lori Peterson said Hanson has had problems controlling her pets. Kim Cunningham, wife of Micheal Cunningham, said the dogs have broken out of Hanson’s yard once before.

“I want something done with those dogs,” Cunningham said. “I don’t feel comfortable with them being here, period.”

Her husband was walking to his driveway when the dogs attacked him shortly before noon on Sunday. Michael Cunningham climbed to the top of his car to escape the dogs, Butler said. When the dogs ran away and appeared to be menacing a child, Michael Cunningham grabbed a metal pole to drive the dogs into their yard.

kgw.com viewer Photo A neighbor shot these photos of the pit bulls.

He and another neighbor then nailed boards on a fence to keep the dogs penned in until the arrival of police.

Hanson said she felt her neighbors were “ganging up” up on her and said the dogs have never had problems before.

“I do understand if the dog nipped someone,” Hanson said. “I do apologize to whoever that happened to.”

But Butler, the Battle Ground police spokesman, said they’ve been to Hanson’s home before on May 24. Neighbors called police to complain about Hanson keeping more than three dogs at her home, Butler said.

Code enforcement officers left a note on her door telling her she was in violation of city codes. Hanson explained to police that her dogs recently had puppies and she was applying for a kennel license.

Code enforcement officers tried to work with Hanson to bring her into compliance, but she’s had plenty of time to get her kennel license, Butler said.

“With this incident, we’re not longer trying to mitigate,” Butler said. “Now, we’re requiring and demanding that the nuisance be abated…we have to take a more aggressive approach.”

As far as police know, this was the first time any of the dogs were involved in a biting incident, and Hanson has never been cited before, Butler said.

Residents are worried because the neighborhood is home to many children, Peterson said. The dogs running loose are particularly disconcerting for Peterson, whose husband is related to John Streeter, the eight-year-old Sifton, Wash. boy mauled to death by two bull mastiff-German shepherd mixes in May.

KGW John Streeter, 8, was mauled to death by his neighbor's dogs.

In that attack, John was playing with the children who owned the dog when he wandered by himself into the fenced yard where the dogs were loose. No one witnessed the dog mauling that killed John.

“This is just very upsetting to us,” Peterson said of Sunday’s incident. “I want my kids safe. I want them to play outside and be safe.”

(KGW reporter John Becker contributed to this story.)