County Commissioners dismiss potential dangerous-dog complaint against pitbull mix

Tension rose between two Olympia neighbors following an altercation with their dogs. On Wed., Nov. 3,  Thurston County commissioners voted to dismiss a complaint against a potentially dangerous dog declaration filed by Janet Anderson against her neighbor’s pet. 

Based on the complaint, Anderson believed that the county should declare Carissa Dahm’s pet, Nova, as a dangerous dog. She claimed that Nova, who is a pitbull mix, had allegedly attacked her chihuahua, Bella. To prove this, Anderson also submitted several testimonies from her neighbors claiming that Nova imposes a danger to the community.

What is a dangerous dog?

According to the county ordinance, a dangerous dog is an animal which:

• “Inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation on public or private property;”
• “Killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner’s property;”
• “Previously found to be potentially dangerous...and the dog again aggressively bites, attacks, or endangers the safety of humans or domestic animals.”

The code provides that a dog cannot be declared as dangerous if it attacks a person or an animal who entered its owner’s property without invitation. In her defense, Dahm said, “the reason why I feel my dog is not at fault and should not be declared as a potentially dangerous dog is [that] she was in her own yard, my property, tied up to her own tether leash.”

Dahm also claimed that it was her neighbor's dog who entered her property. She explained that since she lived a few houses away from Anderson, Bella had to walk down the cul-de-sac to reach her backyard. The dog owner continued that Nova is anything but aggressive, “she loves every single person that she meets.”

As a result of the complaint, Dahm said that the incident had caused great distress to her fiance Cody Blackwell, an army veteran. She explained that Nova serves as an emotional support animal for Blackwell, who was suffering from severe PTSD.

In response, Anderson shared a video that was taken by one of her neighbors which showed Nova walking unsupervised and without a leash on someone’s lawn.

In a unanimous vote, the commissioners believed that Dahm had a valid defense since the incident happened within her own property. The decision was a win for Dahm who pushes to break the stigma against pit bulls as an aggressive breed. “Just because she’s a pitbull I feel is a poor excuse to put her as a potentially dangerous dog.”