Owners Fighting to Save Dog That Mauled Boy

By ANNA CEKOLA

June 17, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA — The attack lasted seconds, but the battle over the fate of the 140-pound dog that injured a 50-pound boy is moving into its sixth month.

Since the Dec. 26 attack that left 7-year-old Zach Anderson with injuries to his head and back, the bull mastiff named “Boo” has been sitting at the Orange County pound awaiting his fate.

A judge last week, for the second time this year, delayed the scheduled destruction of the dog, pending the outcome of a court hearing in July.

The emotionally charged case marks the first time a family has challenged in court a decision by Orange County Animal Control to destroy an animal that has been declared vicious, according to attorneys and county officials.

Stephen Williams says his dog is not vicious, and he has spent more than $8,000 and put his family’s Yorba Linda home up for sale in an effort to save the 3 1/2-year-old animal. In a writ filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, he is seeking once again to overturn the agency’s decision to destroy the dog.

“Euthanasia should be the last resort,” said Williams, 37, an accountant. “In the case of our dog, it is not warranted. He could be kept under simple conditions and restrictions that would prevent this from ever happening again.”

But county officials defended the decision, describing the injuries to Zach Anderson as the most serious they have seen in an unprovoked dog attack.

“Unfortunately, this dog should be destroyed, and I hate to say it because I love dogs,” Deputy County Counsel James L. Turner said at a previous court hearing. “But it’s protection of the public. That’s the whole issue.”

Officials impounded the dog after learning of the attack at Williams’ house, which left Zach with scrapes and punctures on more than 40% of his back, and head wounds requiring 60 stitches and 30 staples.

The families say Stephen Williams’ 12-year-old son, Justin, had invited Zach over to watch a skateboard video that evening. The two youths, along with Justin Williams’ 13-year-old cousin, were walking from the garage, through a patio breezeway leading to a back door, when Boo knocked down Zach.

Stephen Williams and his father-in-law, who heard the commotion, estimated that it took them 10 to 20 seconds to get to the breezeway, where they pulled the dog from the boy.

Zach, who was hospitalized for about seven hours, will heal physically but suffers from nightmares and is now terrified of big dogs, said his father, Zach Anderson Sr.

The Williamses say Boo had never attacked anyone before and contend that Zach’s injuries could have been caused when the dog merely pinned and clawed him, rather than from bites. They point out that bull mastiff dogs, a mix of bulldogs and mastiffs, are bred to protect herds and pin intruders until the owner arrives.

“Boo behaved as most normal, socialized dogs behave under these circumstances,” wrote Sue Myles, an animal behaviorist and trainer who has evaluated the animal. “Dogs are highly observant animals. They are keenly aware of entrances into their territory and become familiar with who goes in and out which entrance. They easily learn which entrances are used by strangers and those used by family.”

The Williamses’ attorney, animal rights specialist Michael Rotsten, also argues that the county’s vicious dog ordinance is vague and gives officials too much discretion in deciding which animals should be destroyed.

“We’re not letting them get away with this,” Rotsten said. “It’s ludicrous to want to kill this dog under this scenario that happened.”

County animal officials, in two separate administrative hearings, say their decision is soundly based on state law designed to protect public safety.

“We cannot focus on the fact that one family’s heart is broken,” said Animal Control Director Judy Maitlen. “That is a terrible thing, but that can’t be our main consideration. Our main consideration has to be that one little kid, in 20 seconds, was badly injured. It is the belief of both hearing officers that if Stephen Williams had not been there, the dog could have killed Zach.”

Maitlen said doctors, and even a coroner’s official, have said the boy’s injuries are consistent with dog bites, and Zach himself testified he could feel the dog “munching” on his head.

After an administrative hearing in January, animal control officials declared the animal vicious and set a Feb. 15 date to destroy the animal. The Williamses challenged the decision in Superior Court, and won a temporary reprieve and a court hearing, which resulted in an order for a second hearing before animal control officials.

That three-day proceeding, which ended earlier this month, resulted in another decision to destroy the animal, this time on June 11. Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour, in response to the second writ filed by the Williams family, then delayed the destruction pending the outcome of a July 16 hearing.

Rotsten said his clients are willing to move, build a special, secured yard for their dog, and turn Boo over to a dog trainer until they learn how to better control the dog.

“If we would have had proper training, none of this would have occurred,” said Stephen Williams, who has put his house up for sale to spare the Anderson boy, he said, from having to live next door to Boo again.

Maitlen said that safety restrictions are often agreed on for dogs declared vicious but noted that this case is complicated by the seriousness of the injuries, the dog’s size and its “unpredictable” nature.

“Since we don’t know what caused the attack, the question becomes, what are you going to train away?” she said.