Small Town News

Dog attack leaves family stunned, authorities wary

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During a pleasant afternoon outing recently, Jeff Azure Sr. said he had no warning before the nightmare attack descended.

Azure said he was relaxed and enjoying a wagon ride with a family relative and several young children northwest of Belcourt when a large attack dog appeared on a dead run, heading straight for his team of horses. The dog lunged at the first horse and actually brought it down to its knees.

"I never thought a dog could do that to a horse but now I know. That was a big dog. I tried to keep the team from running because I had so many kids with me. I didn't know what to do. After my painted gray horse got back up and started kicking the dog, that dog went around and attacked my black horse, Jack, and tore him up too. It's something I never will forget," Azure said.

According to Azure, the attack went on for a few minutes, although it seemed much longer. The owners of the dog appeared and were unable to stop the dog's attack for quite some time, Azure recalled. The ferocity of the dog attack is still clear in his mind and always will be, he added.

"I was trying to control the horses 'cause they were trying to run and you can't blame them. The last thing I needed was a runaway wagon full of kids. It's just too bad my horses had to suffer such bad bites and wounds," said Azure. Azure noted that the wagon pole hooked up to the horses was snapped in two during the terrifying melee.

According to Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement officials, dogs running loose, especially pit bulls or attack dogs, present a major danger to humans all over the reservation.

Bob Poitra, the father of one of the children, expressed his anger about the incident and the lack of enforcement of a tribal ordinance.

"When you think of a nice wagon ride, the only thing that might worry you is that your kid might fall off the wagon, not a crazed pit bull coming out of the trees and endangering your child," Poitra stated. "What do these dogs do besides being trained to kill. They're supposed to be penned up and chained securely. Now in my mind, a dog that attacks like that and has that kind of power and aggressiveness should be put down. That may be only my opinion, but what if it was your kid? These kind of animals need to be banned completely from the reservation. We have too many kids walking around and what if it were a group of kids walking down the road instead of horses?"

The Turtle Mountain Tribal Code does have a strict law concerning dangerous dogs. Title 10.0110 addresses the keeping of pit bull, Rottweiler and Doberman Pinscher dogs within the boundaries of the Turtle Mountain Reservation. These breeds can only be kept as pets if they are registered with the tribal vectors office and rabies shots are maintained by the owner. Even when registered, no pit bull Rottweiler or Doberman is allowed to go outside its kennel or pen unless the dog is securely leashed with a leash no longer than four feet and a muzzling device is in place. The law was passed with penalties attached to it. Anyone who violates any provision of Title 10 can be sentenced to labor of up to 25 days and a fine of $500 or both.

Ron Peltier, Turtle Mountain Housing Executive Director, said the housing authority has banned all pets in its housing communities with the exception of seeing eye dogs and any tenant who owns a dog must show a proven medical need for such a dog.

'"There is absolutely no need for pit bulls or other attack dogs in our community," said Peltier. "I have heard of so many attacks and near attacks by dangerous breeds of dogs here in our community. If we don't enforce the law we have, eventually some kid or adult will suffer a deadly attack. These pit bulls really scare me. We have an ordinance and people should be following it. We have our own strict housing policy and it works. The housing security reports any dangerous dogs around and we deal with it in a quick fashion. We don't hesitate when it comes to having an attack dog roaming in our housing areas."

Rochelle Azure, wife of Jeff Azure St., said the horses are like family and is dismayed at the agony that her horses went through. She stated her horses are still traumatized and still trying to heal from the wounds. Her son, Jeff (J.P.) Azure Jr., has been helping treat and care for Jack, the most injured horse of the two.

"After Jack was attacked, he just stood at the fence for a couple of days without moving," he recalled. "Then finally, he started moving around real slow and started to eat a little. He must have been in a lot of pain. Jack's lost a whole lot of weight since the attack and if a human was attacked like this, especially a kid. how could they even survive it?"

Bureau of Indian Affairs Police Chief Gerald Medrud is aware of the case and noted there are possible charges pending upon investigation.

"I knew that this would be the first time anyone would be charged through Title 10." stated Medrud. "We had some complaints about pit bulls on the reservation in the past and recently, we had to remove one from the Shell Valley Housing. I know that this ordinance has not been enforced as well as it should in the past, but now we plan to do that."

According to Chief of Police Medrud, BIA Law Enforcement will hold a staff meeting with officials from the Turtle Mountain Tribal Court and Tribal Prosecutor's office present to collaborate on the best methods to address the local attack dog problem on the reservation.

Bob Poitra Jr. stressed that all pit bulls should be banned from reservation lands.

"I just can't help but think that what if my kid would have fallen off the wagon because of the horses jerking on the reins and trying to run," Poitra said." A child would not have a chance with something like that attacking you and I lay the blame of the owners on what happened to those horses and next time, it could be a little kid. No one should be allowed to even own one."



Copyright 2009 Turtle Mountain Star, Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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