Dog attack in Monroe Co. has officials taking another look at the ordinance in place
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Amy Rea and Byron McNair knew something was wrong witnessed a dog attack on Grubb Springs Road in Hamilton the Saturday before Christmas.
“There were four dogs attacking a woman in a ditch and another guy trying to beat them off with a piece of firewood. I fired off a round to see if I could make them stop biting her,” said Rea.
“They wouldn’t stop,” said McNair. “Every time he would hit them, they would back up just a little bit. And they were going back at her and they would not stop. They were all over the top of her, and they were all coming from different directions on her. So she could she couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything. And as soon as that one backed up far enough then we took care of it.”
The dog owner’s fiancé, Tatum Little, spoke with WCBI over the phone and said the animals have never shown this type of aggression and they would have never thought something like this would happen.
“They loved to sit in my lap,” said Little. “They got petted on. I mean, they were just friendly dogs. They were around my fiancé’s niece, and she was three years old. She’d walk up and down the hall in the little area where she lives. Those dogs would follow her and protect her if anything happened, which nothing really happened like that. But they were not vicious dogs. It’s just when a stranger does come up to a property, they bark. But they never attacked anyone until the day of the incident.”
Rea and McNair hope change will come from this incident.
“The ordinance we have in place is nowhere near sufficient to protect the public,” McNair said. “This young lady was going to lose her life because she was bitten very badly by four dogs that were not about to stop. So something has to change.”
Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook sympathizes with everyone involved. He said the dog ordinance has some gray areas, such as defying when a dog is considered dangerous. As it stands now, that’s when a person or animal is attacked.
“Anything that we can do to change for the better after this, we definitely want to do that,” Crook said. “At the end of the day, you know, the problems are there because there has not been a solution.”
Little says people get dogs for all kinds of reasons and the rules should be different in the county than in city limits.
“I don’t think there should be no laws in the county because like, you never know what stranger that’s pulling up. It could be a stranger that’s, you know, going to hurt you or going to hurt your little ones,” Little said. “And, you know, you don’t have time to defend yourself in a certain way, so your dogs help you out. They do need to be trained a little bit too, you know, to do the right thing and to pick and choose a situation.”
“I think if you are a dog owner, it needs to be leashed. It needs to be in a cage or in your house,” Rea said.
All parties told WCBI they are regretful of the situation.
“We can’t explain why it happened. Just out of the blue, it happened,” said Little.
“My heart breaks for the young lady that was attacked and for the neighbor that had to intervene,” said Crook.
“I’m glad we were home. We just want Shelby to be okay,” said Rea.
We reached out to Monroe County Supervisor Rubel West about the current ordinance in place.
“First, the board deeply regrets the events that unfolded recently and we will review our current ordinance regarding vicious dogs in Monroe County,” West said. “We understand that some breeds are more noted to be unstable than others. However, people live in the rural parts of the county to avoid unnecessary restrictions typically found in municipalities. We do take all these matters into account when reviewing and or establishing ordinances.”
The dog owner and witnesses tell WCBI they have both spoken to the victim since the situation.
We reached out but have not heard back from the victim.
All four dogs are dead. One was shot and killed at the scene and three were put down per a court order.
