August 2015

Who let the dogs out? Apparently SD State Legislator Blake Curd

l3wis August 3, 2015 7Comments

I am a little disturbed how this ‘non-justice’ is playing out, with our extremely wealthy Dr. Curd;

On July 31, 2015, at approximately 6:59 a.m., the Sioux Falls Police Department responded to the 1300 block of South Elmwood Avenue after Metro Communications received calls of a woman that had been attacked by a dog. As an officer responded to the scene, he encountered two dogs that were running loose in the area. After the officer exited his vehicle, one of the dogs, a Tibetan Mastiff, approached the officer and bit him in the right thigh. The officer attempted to free himself from the dog and after he was successful, he fired two rounds at the dog as it approached him again. The officer was taken to Avera McKennan and was treated for a minor injury to the thigh.

Both dogs were later located by Animal Control and taken into custody. The dogs were found to be current on vaccinations. The woman that had been attacked leading to the response from the Police Department had multiple injuries to her right arm and legs and was transported to Sanford Hospital by ambulance for treatment.

First off, the dog that attacked her and the officer (they believe it was just the male) should be euthanized, not returned to the Curds or put up for adoption, the Curds have stated that the dogs WILL NOT be returning to their home. The second dog should also not be returned, and maybe put up for adoption to a responsible dog owner.

This same incident happened to a friend of mine a few years ago. The neighbors had a dog that the city told them should be either caged or on a chain even if he was secured by a privacy fence because of his aggressive nature (The Curds said the dogs were fenced in, but escaped somehow). The neighbors ignored the warnings, the dog chewed through and knocked down the privacy fence and attacked my friends son (who I believe was 9 at the time) the dog had him pinned down and bit him in multiple places on his arm. Animal control later told her that if her son would not have been punching the dog in the face to get him to stop, he might have killed her son. Scary stuff. When animal control took the dog, they immediately euthanized it. No questions asked, standard operating procedure. They promptly told my friend that the dog would not be hurting anyone anymore.

So it puzzles me that #1, the Curds dog still hasn’t been put down (maybe it has by now), and #2 why he isn’t facing charges for allowing his dogs to run free or get out to begin with? Is there a different kind of justice for ‘the haves’ when they have unruly pets?

No doubt there will be a lawsuit filed against them. My friend told me her son had to go through several months of counseling because of the trauma, and had nightmares for weeks. He’s good now, and likes dogs again, but he was just a little boy, I can’t imagine what the lady and the brave officer are going through. Adults are harder to counsel then children on these matters.

I was also puzzled why it took several days to say who the owners of the dogs were. Something doesn’t smell right with the way this incident is being handled. What I don’t understand is why people have large, aggressive, high energy dogs in town. If you know anything about large dogs, unless they are exercised regularly, they get anxious, they want to run, and they want to cause mischief.