WILLMAR -- Two Rottweiler dogs, owned by a Willmar man, were recently euthanized after they bit two people in two separate incidents in April and May.
According to reports from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office and the Willmar Police Department, the dogs, named Beans and Bacon, bit a man while he was walking at Regency Estates West on March 19. Police were called to the emergency room of Rice Memorial Hospital after the 32-year-old man sought treatment for bite wounds on his wrist and abdomen.
The second incident, at a farm in rural Belgrade, involved a 35-year-old Pennock woman who was visiting the home as a social worker. She was bitten on the wrist after she entered the home's attached garage on April 15. She drove herself to receive medical care in Paynesville.
According to court and law enforcement records, the owner of the dogs, Luis Garcia Salazar, 20, was not charged in either incident. Records show he had one of the dogs, a male, euthanized on May 9. Records show the other dog, a female, was voluntarily turned over to sheriff's deputies to be euthanized on May 15.
After the April 15 incident, county prosecutors determined that no charges would be filed, according to Chief Deputy Randy Kveene.
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However, the county determined that the dogs were now considered dangerous under state statute, and Salazar had to meet certain criteria within 14 days to keep the animals.
The criteria include registering the animals with the county, paying a $500 fee, posting notification of their presence on the property, providing proof of $50,000 in liability insurance, having the dogs microchipped and, if selling the dogs, informing the purchaser that they are dangerous and that the new owner would have to meet the same conditions.
The requirements also require keeping the dogs in a proper enclosure and require that the dogs be muzzled, restrained by a substantial leash and under their owner's physical control when not in the enclosure.
The conditions were not met by the owner, Kveene said, resulting in the department's contact with Salazar's family member, who voluntarily turned over the dog to authorities.
Records show that Salazar was warned after the first incident that, if the dogs bit another person, he could be criminally charged and that the dogs now were now considered "potentially dangerous." That warning came in a letter from city attorney Rich Ronning, dated March 24. The misdemeanor charge was dismissed by Ronning before Salazar was scheduled to make his first appearance on April 16.
Kveene recalls three incidents in the past several years where dogs have been euthanized under dangerous dog requirements. Given the county's population and dog numbers, the danger posed by such animals to citizens is minimal, he said. However, "when they (dog bites) happen, they are very serious" for those involved, he said.
