Two Loose Dogs In Trenton Neighborhood Kill Another Dog

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Complaints about two aggressive dogs running loose through Rosewood culminated in a tragic day for TJ and Jenniffer Avans. On the afternoon of Nov. 14, their small Pomeranian, Emma Grace, was killed by one of the two dogs.

The two aggressive dogs have been described by several neighbors as pit bull or pit bull mixes. Both are black; one is larger than the other. Their owners live in Rosewood and have a fenced-in backyard, but the dogs often escaped. The Sentinel was unable to contact the owners.

The Sentinel first heard about the problem from Morgan Johnson and Moira Green, both of whom live in the Rosewood subdivision. Near the end of September, Johnson had not personally contacted the City of Trenton about the dogs, but she had spoken with various concerned neighbors who had contacted the city. She explained that she was concerned for her family’s safety because the dogs often ran through the neighborhood and seemed threatening.

About a month later, on Nov. 14, Johnson told the Sentinel, “After continuing to contact the city about the aggressive pit bulls being loose, we were told there was nothing they would do about the dogs besides write the owners’ tickets. Just an hour ago, their dogs got out again and killed my neighbors’ small dog. The police are out here now. This is something that could have been avoided if the city would have taken action. That could have been my child who got attacked.”

Near the end of September, Green also shared her experiences. She and her family moved to the neighborhood in March of this year, and they’ve had problems with the dogs ever since. Green said she called the city about the dogs three times, and officers came out multiple times, but the dogs continued to escape.

During one incident, the dogs came onto the Green’s property and tore up hoses on the back of their RV. Green described another more serious incident when “the dogs came out of nowhere, jumped me when I was pregnant, and tackled my two-year-old.”

She explained that the dogs came into her yard and jumped up on her. As she tried to get her two-year-old daughter inside the house to safety, the smaller dog ran into the Green’s house and knocked their daughter to the ground.

Green was able to catch the dogs and walk them back to their house. She said the owner did not come out to talk to her. Instead, a friend of the owner came out to take the dogs and apologized for their behavior.

On a later date, the smaller dog tackled Green’s daughter again as she was walking out of the garage. This incident resulted in scrapes from the concrete. This time, Green called the police who told her they would talk to the owners. Green never heard a report back from the police, but the dogs continued to come to her property, and her daughter was afraid of going outside.

Julie Opper, another Rosewood neighbor, reported that both dogs ran at her several months ago while she was in her own yard and chased her inside. She estimated that they’ve been in her yard nearly ten times in the last few months. One time, she was afraid to get out of her vehicle, so she drove through her yard to chase the dogs away. Once, she called the city’s non-emergency number when she couldn’t get inside. Animal control responded to this situation.

Opper said she was afraid of the dogs because their attitudes seemed aggressive. This was a common description from the neighbors. Aside from Green’s testimony and up until Emma’s death, the Sentinel did not hear of any injuries caused by the dogs—just the fear of potential injury because they chased people in an aggressive manner.

The dogs have been on the Avans property multiple times, and TJ called animal control directly many times to let them know that the dogs were loose. He said Trenton Police Department officers sometimes accompanied animal control. Once, TJ called Trenton PD who simply asked if the dogs were acting aggressively. At the time, the Avans didn’t have evidence that the dogs were an immediate threat.

Captain Dylon Floyd reported that Trenton PD received three calls about these dogs, but animal control received more than three calls.

The first call to the police was Sept. 27 when the dog owners were issued a citation for restraint of animals. The second was Oct. 10. Floyd wrote, “Animal control was notified of the call, and there was no request for police assistance.”

The third time was Nov. 14 when the Avans’ dog was killed. Floyd wrote, “Police responded, issued four citations for ordinance violations, and completed a police report.”

On this day, TJ was at work when a neighbor let him know that the dogs were out. He texted Jenniffer to let her know to keep their three dogs inside, and he called animal control. A little while later, he received a call from a hysterical, weeping Jenniffer.

Jenniffer told the Sentinel that about 30-60 minutes after the text from TJ, she checked to make sure the two dogs were gone. Not seeing them, she took Emma out on a leash and walked to the mailbox. As they returned to their house, the two dogs ran toward Jenniffer and Emma.

The larger of the two grabbed Emma in its mouth. Jenniffer attempted to free her, but the large dog wouldn’t let go. Meanwhile, the smaller of the two jumped on Jenniffer, leaving scratches.

The dog eventually let go of Emma but grabbed her again when Jenniffer tried to pick her up. “It felt like hours to me,” Jenniffer said. In this second round, Jenniffer could see that Emma was dead. She said there was a lot of blood.

The Avans’ registered service dog, a 13-year-old Golden Retriever named Maddox, entered the fight to protect his family, but the two dogs attacked him and held him on the ground. (TJ reported that Maddox seems not to have sustained any injuries.)

Jennifer said, “I was thinking ‘They’re going to kill all my dogs.’” She went inside to call 911, but because animal control and Trenton PD had already responded to TJ’s call, they heard the commotion from the neighbors’ house. Somewhere during this time, the two aggressive dogs left the scene.

Jenniffer concluded, “I just wish the city would’ve done something when we called them before. Why didn’t they do something when the dogs jumped on Moira’s baby?”

The Avans are looking into what can be done legally to hold the dog owners accountable. The owners must appear in court on Dec. 10.

Chapter 14 of the city ordinances covers animal control. The dog owners clearly violated Sec. 14-12, which reads, “The owner or keeper of each animal within the city shall be responsible for keeping it from becoming a nuisance or from endangering or injuring any other person or damaging any property, and to that end: It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper of any animal to allow such animal to go on the property of any other person or on any public right-of-way, roadway or street.”

Some portions about when the city can impound animals apply to this situation. The city can take: “All animals not being kept and maintained in accordance with [the section about restraint]. All animals found on the premises of any person other than the owner without permission of the owner of the premises upon which such animal is found; and all animals found running loose in the city.”

However, Ronnie Page (animal control officer) explained that the standard process is to issue a warning (or multiple), then issue a citation, then impound animals. He said, “Like the ordinance says, you’ve gotta restrain your animals on your property. We had trouble making them understand that. We talked to them, we pleaded with them. My coworker even fixed part of the fence for them.”

Terry Powell (animal control commissioner) told the Sentinel that he was not aware of the issue until Emma’s death. He cited Page as the point person in this situation.

Applying the city’s vicious and dangerous dog definitions to this situation is a bit tricky. While the neighbors justifiably felt that the dogs were aggressive, per ordinance Sec. 14-18, “‘Vicious dog’ means a dog that inflicts serious injury on a person or causes serious injury to a person resulting from reasonable attempts to escape from the dog’s attack. ‘Dangerous dog’ means any dog that: Causes a substantial puncture of a person’s skin by teeth without causing serious injury; provided, however, that a nip, scratch, or abrasion shall not be sufficient to classify a dog as dangerous under this subparagraph.”

No serious injuries or bites had occurred. The only situations close to it were the ones involving Green’s daughter. Page explained, “The female dog would jump up on you; it jumped up on me. But that was the only evidence we had, that it had jumped up on a young child. I didn’t think I had enough on that to pursue [impoundment].”

However, the ordinance continues, “Aggressively attacks in a manner that causes a person to reasonably believe that the dog posed an imminent threat of serious injury to such person or another person although no such injury occurs; provided, however, that the acts of barking, growling, or showing of teeth by a dog shall not be sufficient to classify a dog as dangerous under this subparagraph.” From the neighbors’ testimonies, this description fits the two dogs.

The ordinance continues, “While off the owner’s property, kills a pet animal.” Sadly, this came to pass, so the dogs are now clearly “dangerous dogs.”

Further down in Sec. 14-20, the ordinances read, “A law enforcement officer or animal control officer shall immediately impound a dog if the officer believes the dog poses a threat to the public safety.”

Floyd contradicted this ordinance, writing, “Law enforcement can and does assist animal control officers with animal related calls, but the decision to impound an animal is up to animal control officers.”

The Sentinel asked if the Greens’ experiences were not enough to justify impoundment. Floyd wrote, “I’m not familiar with Moria Green or her testimony, so I cannot answer that. I will say citizens need to call the Dade County Dispatch non-emergency line, 706-657-4111, to report animal issues so that it is recorded and we can have an appropriate response including animal control, law enforcement, or both. They can call Trenton City Hall and animal control will be notified that way, but dispatch is available 24/7 and can immediately send assistance.”

When asked what steps were taken prior to Emma’s death, Floyd noted verbal warnings from animal control and a citation from Trenton PD for violation of the restraint ordinance. He wrote, “We understand that we are dealing with animals and mistakes happen, so we try to give warnings before issuing citations, but some pet owners are irresponsible and do not listen to the warning or citations.”

Page reported that while the police write citations, animal control makes the citation recommendation to the police. Trenton PD wrote the first citation near the end of September. Page said that the owners had just paid the fine the day before or day of the attack on Emma.

The city did not impound the dogs when the citation was written. Page said, “Really, on restraint, I can’t pick them up, but we’d been over there so many times that that’s what I was fixin’ to do.” However, is this a case of too little, too late?

On Nov. 14, Page had already gone home from work for the day when TJ reported that the dogs were loose, so Trenton PD responded to the call first. Page said he told the officer who was responding, “Go down and tell them that this was the last time. The next time, the dogs are going with us and they’ll have to get them back from the judge.”

Both of the dogs are currently in the city pound. Page concluded, “They will not get them back until the judge decides [if they will or won’t] on Dec. 10.”