CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois owned by a man visiting Clarksville killed a small dog outside apartments near Exit 4 this week.
At abut 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Becki Bornhorst, 64, was taking her two dogs – Sadie, a 5-year-old Dachshund mix, and Tobie, a 16-year-old Bichon-Poo – on their normal walk at Waterford Landings Apartments on Westfield Court.
Bornhorst told Clarksville Now she walking her dogs on leashes across the grounds and picking up after them. As they crossed back through, she was surprised by two large dogs that instantly began acting aggressively.
“I started screaming, ‘Help, help! Somebody please help me!’ And they ended up taking my old dog, Tobie, and drug him out of my hands with the lead. They knocked me to the ground, took him over to the grass and mauled him,” Bornhorst said through tears.
Neighbors tried to help Bornhorst, but to no avail. The two dogs were large, aggressive and refused to back down. The maintenance manager, who heard Bornhorst’s screams, immediately called police and then went to the school bus stop to make sure the children would be safe.
Bornhorst had a scrape to her left knee from being pulled to the ground. After giving police her statement, she rushed to Banfield Pet Hospital on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard with Tobie, but the little dog didn’t survive the attack.
Luckily, Sadie had no visible injuries and remains in good health.
Dogs from out of town
Later, Clarksville Police and Montgomery County Animal Control responded when the same maintenance manager called and said he found the dogs nearby behind Comfort Suites.
According to a police incident report obtained by Clarksville Now, the owner of the dogs, a 35-year-old Nebraska native, said he was staying at the Comfort Suites for the night on his way to North Carolina.
He told police he let his dogs, a German Shepherd and a Belgian Malinois, go into the woods beside the hotel to relieve themselves, as they are used to going out unleashed on their property at home in Nebraska. The dogs then went through the woods to the apartment complex before running back to the hotel.
Clarksville Now has reached out to the Nebraska man for comment.
Dogs can’t be seized here
According to police and animal control, by law, local officers didn’t have the authority to seize and impound the dogs, since the man was not a resident of Tennessee and only passing through.
Dave Kaske, director of Montgomery County Animal Care and Control, said when a dog bite occurs and the dog’s owner lives out of state, they are limited by jurisdiction.
“There’s not a whole lot we can do other than notify their animal control in their county that a bite occurred, and the dog needs to be quarantined when they get home,” Kaske said.
According to the Tennessee dog bite law, a dog owner or the keeper of a dog may be held civilly liable for the damages caused by the dog.
Plaintiffs suing for injuries or death caused by a dog bite must prove three elements: “First, they must prove that the defendant owned the dog. Second, they must prove that the defendant’s dog caused the injuries. Third, they must prove that the defendants knew or should have known about the dog’s dangerous propensities.”
The lack of jurisdiction leaves Bornhorst grieving and with few options.
“I just want peace for all the fur babies and kids that run around and don’t have to fear dogs,” Bornhorst said.
Her surviving dog doesn’t yet realize that Tobie was killed, she said. “Sadie lays by the door waiting for her brother to come home.”