Owner of Rotweiller That Attacked Small Child at Fairgrounds Charged

Photo released by family Courtesy: Oregon State Police

(SALEM) - The owner of a Rotweiller dog that suddenly attacked a two-year old girl April 29th on State Fairgrounds property where she was walking with her mother and grandmother, was cited by Oregon State Police following an investigation into the incident.

The injured child was released from the hospital the next day following treatment for chest wounds. The dog reportedly has been put to sleep at the request of its owner.

Oregon State Police Trooper Mark Davie cited the dog's owner, 28-year old James Wilson of Mosier, for one count of Recklessly Endangering Another Person, a Class A misdemeanor. Wilson was cited to appear in Marion County Circuit Court on June 1st, 2006 at 9:30 AM.

State Police say investigation learned that the incident occurred during an agricultural event at the State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 29th at approximately 9:30 AM, when Suzy Nofziger of Tangent, was walking with her two-year old daughter and the child's grandmother in the parking lot area towards one of the buildings.

Nofziger says the three were holding hands with the child between mother and grandmother. As they approached a parked van to their right, a large male Rotweiller chained to the van suddenly charged past the grandmother and attacked the child's side, biting her in the chest area.

As the dog had hold of the child's coat, Suzy Nofziger says she grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the dog. A fairground employee was nearby and contacted police and fire personnel. According to Nofziger, the dog lunged towards the unidentified fairground employee who was out of reach of the chained dog.

Salem Fire Department personnel responded to treat the child before she was initially transported by ambulance to Salem Memorial Hospital. She was transferred to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland and was subsequently released the next day.

The 5-year old, approximately 85-pound male Rotweiller had been left chained to the van and unattended by its owner who was a vendor at the agriculture festival. The chain length was estimated to be 10 - 15 feet.

The dog was transported to Willamette Humane Society in Salem for observation. Trooper Davie was advised the dog was put to sleep at the direction of Wilson.

The child's name is not being released at the family's request, but they did authorize the release of the above photograph with hopes of raising awareness about proper dog .

Links to photographs of the dog are available with the original news release on the OSP website.