PUYALLUP, Wash. — Editor’s note: This story contains graphic material and mentions of animal violence.
A Puyallup family tells KIRO 7 they are in shock after their two corgis were attacked by two other neighborhood dogs on Saturday.
John Fairbanks said the corgis, his daughter, and a neighbor are all recovering from bite injuries.
“I was at the grocery store and received a video call from my daughter. She was covered in blood and tears,” Fairbanks said. “All I could hear her saying was ‘Charlie and Piper, Charlie and Piper.’”
Fairbanks said his two, ten-year-old corgis, Charlee and Piper, were attacked by two dogs loose in their neighborhood while they were on a walk with his daughter.
He said they were only a few feet away from the front door when the two dogs ran up and latched on to the corgis. Fairbanks tells us the attack lasted several minutes, even though multiple people were trying to fend the dogs off.
“Piper suffered significant damage to her throat, severed the muscles in her throat, and there was concern about her windpipe,” Fairbanks said. “She was in an oxygen chamber for the first two days, but fortunately, once they did the surgery, her breathing improved so they don’t see that there was any further damage to the windpipe.”
Fairbanks said she already had one surgery and will need another in the future.
He also tells us the neighbor that stepped in to help got bit along with his daughter, who was bit in the bicep and has significant bruising and teeth marks on her arm.
Fairbanks tells us he later found out the dogs attacked another neighbor that morning, as well.
He said the gate to the dog’s backyard was open and the owners appeared not to be home.
“The other gentleman that was attacked, it’s usually his young daughter that’s walking them, who knows what would have happened,” Fairbanks said.
He said, thankfully, everyone is expected to physically be OK.
“It just shows the strength of my daughter, and I really can’t watch the video fully, but watching some of the video of how she fought was just amazing, getting them inside to try to protect them with no care about herself, it was all about her babies,” Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks said both dogs are slowly regaining their personality and strength back each day, but they require around the clock medical care and monitoring while they recover.
In Washington, the law states that dogs who attack others aren’t removed by animal control; the owners must voluntarily surrender them.
Fairbanks tells us there needs to be laws that would take the attacking dogs from their homes to prevent future dangerous incidents. He said he wants to work with lawmakers to change laws.
“I’m just going to seek ways to make changes, and I have got some resources, and I’ve focused my energy, anger, sadness, and everything towards making a change.”
There is a GoFundMe set up for Charlie and Piper’s extensive medical bills. Fairbanks said that money will also go to help the other dog attacked in the neighborhood that day, too.
If you would like to help, you can donate here.
We reached out to the owners of the dogs who attacked the corgis and the other dog earlier in the day.
They told us they have already paid for the current vet bills for the dog in the first attack, and that, right now, there are none impending for that dog.
The owner said this is a tragic situation, but they do not want to talk any further about it.
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