Dog bites teen; owner ticketed
Staff writer
Marion police cited a dog owner for letting a dog run free after it bit a 17-year-old girl Saturday.
A police report wasn’t available because a part-time officer, Gary Slater, responded to the call, officer Zach Hudlin said Monday.
The girl, bitten in the 400 block of S. Lincoln St., didn’t require medical attention, Hudlin said.
“It was bad enough to call the police but not bad enough to call an ambulance,” Hudlin said.
Stray dogs continue to pose a problem for towns across Marion County. The dog bite was one of four dog-related calls Marion officers responded to from Jan. 30 through Sunday.
On Sunday, dogs were reported running free in the 100 block of S. Cedar St., the 300 block of S. Lincoln St., and near the VFW Post on W. Santa Fe St. Only the dog on Cedar St. was captured — by its owner. The two other dogs eluded police.
The city spent $126 in January taking stray dogs to Animal Health Center.
The sheriff’s office responded Saturday to an initial report of four dogs attacking two juveniles in Peabody that proved to be false. Two dogs had been fighting and were separated by their owners.
Stray dogs have led to undelivered mail in the past on certain streets in Marion and Peabody. Mail carriers expressed safety concerns about dogs roaming the streets, prompting the post office to hold mail there.
Dog-at-large cases often are mentioned in weekly area news releases by police across the county.