Animal Control Searches For Couple Whose Dog Bit Chunk Of Man's Arm
BODEGA BAY (KPIX 5) -- Sonoma County Animal Control is looking for a couple whose dog bit a chunk out of a man's arm on Doran Beach in Bodega Bay on Monday.
Claus Janzen was out for a walk when he passed by the only other people on the beach — a man and a woman and their three dogs. Claus says the dogs had leashes attached to their collars, but were running freely.
"I walked by these people. I was maybe three, four steps by them and all of a sudden I just felt this dog lunge up and bit my arm," Claus told KPIX 5. "I looked down and there's a big gouge out of my arm. It wasn't a big bite or a puncture wound or a scratch. It was — he took it out. There wasn't skin flapping around. It was just taken out."
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The 69-year-old man was bleeding and a mile from his home.
"I said, 'I need help. Can you help me?' And he said, and I guess I'll never forget that — he looked at me with a sort of a snide face and said, 'What do you want me to do, kiss and make it better?'-- and they turned and walked away," Claus recounted.
He did managed to snap a photo of the couple with his phone and then got himself to a golf course half a mile away for help.
A fire medic in Bodega Bay looked at Claus's arm and then sent him onto a hospital in Santa Rosa for eight stitches. The photos Claus took are in the official Sonoma County Animal Control report. They're investigating the incident and have confirmed to KPIX 5 that the couple in the photos are the suspects.
The concern right now is whether the dog that bit Claus has rabies and whether he needs to start a course of treatment.
"There was no contrition on the part of this person, these people. They just turned and walked away. You ask for help and they turn and walk away. "