Dealing with 'Rez dogs'

Frank Bybee will never forget witnessing a goat trying to escape a charging “rez dog” at the DeSmet sewer plant on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation.

“When the dog got inside the fence, the goat jumped in the (lagoon) to get away,” he said of the incident two years ago. “The dog chewed the goat up.”

The wailing goat survived, but suffered serious injuries including what appeared to be a broken back.

“It was pretty traumatic for the kids who were watching,” said Bybee, adding that he was forced to put the goat out of its misery. “It was a crazy scene.”

Bybee, who has several other stories to tell about loose dogs on the reservation, believes it’s time to speak out about the problem because it seems to be getting worse, not better.

“I’m not trying to give the communities a black eye,” said Bybee, a tribal member who formerly lived in DeSmet and now lives in Worley. “I love the communities. I want to try to get results, get people to open their eyes and do something. I’m not doing it to attack anybody.”

Bybee said he believes something needs to be done before somebody gets seriously injured.

“There’s always been a problem, but I think it’s as worse as it’s ever been,” he said.

Last fall Bybee’s daughter Santana was knocked over and pinned down by a Great Dane.

“I think (the dog) was just playing, but it freaked me out because she could’ve really gotten hurt,” Bybee said. “I had to chase it off with a shovel.”

Communities on the reservation have leash laws and ordinances requiring residents to keep their dogs under control, but Bybee doesn’t believed they’re enforced that well and that residents should take more responsibility with their dogs.

“There’s laws, but some people don’t follow them,” he said.

Bybee doesn’t classify the “rez dogs” as wild, but some residents just don’t tie them up or take good care of them.

“The dogs run around the neighborhoods, they get into stuff and sometimes they can be mean,” he said.

Concerned residents say sometimes the dogs roam in small packs, but in many cases are by themselves.

DeSmet, where Bybee works, is the hardest-hit town on the reservation with loose dogs — so much that it has been given the nickname of “Dog Town,” he said.

Bybee said he is well aware of the reputation or stereotype that reservations have regarding loose dogs, but it’s also the reality on the Coeur d’Alene.

“A lot of people in the community don’t want to say that it’s a problem,” Bybee said. “They don’t want to give the community a bad image. But everybody knows about it anyway.”

Law enforcement hurdles

Limited animal control resources and other hurdles with the law enforcement agencies that cover the reservation doesn’t help either, officials say.

Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police and the Benewah County Sheriff’s Office, which responds to animal complaints in DeSmet and Tensed, don’t have animal control officers.

“The challenge many rural communities face is the limited resources to address the problems so whenever and wherever possible, we have worked with other local jurisdictions in the region to share resources to address feral animal populations on the reservation,” the Coeur d’Alene Tribe said in a written statement.

“Frankly, this issue doesn’t come up too often and any time there is a specific dog or specific problem, we encourage the community to let us know and we will pull in the resources we have to work with and address it.”

Distance often delays response times to loose dog calls on the reservation as the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which handles animal control in Worley, is 27 miles from that city. The Benewah County Sheriff’s Office in St. Maries is 34 miles from DeSmet.

Both are distances in which a loose dog can be long gone before authorities arrive.

“Because of the distance factor, many dogs reported to be running loose are usually gone from the area by the time we get there, unless the dog has been contained by the complainant,” said Sandra Osburn, KCSO animal control officer. “As for the specific problem of dogs running loose, this has been difficult to correct and enforce.

“Unfortunately we do not have the luxury of being able to frequently patrol the Worley area looking for loose dogs when there hasn’t been a call for service generated in the area.”

Osburn said the KCSO generally only has one or two animal control officers on duty at a time to handle calls throughout the 1,310 square miles of the county each day.

“They are busy,” KCSO Lt. Stu Miller said.

Osburn said she has found that “time and time again” loose dogs were previously caught and impounded.

“This is usually the result of dog owners disregarding the ordinances even though they are aware of them,” she said.

Miller said many residents also don’t license their dogs as required by the county, so that can make it difficult to find out who the owner is.

The KCSO has received 38 animal control calls in the Worley area this year. Four were listed as “vicious” in nature.

Benewah County Sheriff Dave Resser admits that, unless it’s a vicious dog call, loose dogs aren’t a high priority, although a deputy can generally make it to DeSmet or Tensed before the end of a shift.

“We answer any and all loose dog calls we get,” Resser said. “Usually warning the owner and telling them that they could be subjected to a citation takes care of the problem, at least for awhile.

“It is getting to be more of a problem as times goes by. Why? I have no idea.”

Resser said it’s rare that a dog gets taken from the reservation to the Hope’s Haven animal shelter in St. Maries because the sheriff’s office doesn’t have a vehicle to transport dogs.

“We don’t put them in a back seat of a squad car because, if we transported them, we’d have to thoroughly steam clean the back seat of the car,” Resser said.

There are other logistical hurdles.

Both county sheriff’s offices, when dealing with tribal members, can advise them of the ordinances and how to correct violations, but only tribal police can enforce the loose dog penalties.

“Tribal members are a sovereign nation, meaning we can’t issue citations to them for dog at large,” Miller said. “So, we have to have a tribal police officer assist us. It is not a hurdle, just an extra step that has to be taken.

“We can’t ‘remove the barrier.’ They are a sovereign nation. It hasn’t changed and won’t change.”

Resser said he’s not sure if that extra step further prevents the loose dog problem from getting resolved, but he has been assured by tribal police that such calls are handled as soon as possible.

Resser said his agency and the Tribe have worked to overcome enforcement challenges and will continue to do so. All POST-certified tribal police officers now have the authority to act as a county deputy so that they can uphold the state law on caucasians.

But Resser said since his deputies can’t cite tribal members for loose dog infractions, that does convolute matters.

“It is a problem and a situation that we’re going to have to deal with,” he said. “Sometime in the future maybe we’ll all get on the same page.”

Lingering resident concerns

Residents concerned about loose dogs, meanwhile, wonder if their pet will be the next victim.

Lorri Gum, a Worley resident, said she has had three cats killed by dogs.

“We have had to chase dogs away many times,” Gum said. “It is sad that, even though there is a leash law, a lot of people just let them run. I have a fenced yard and many times the dogs that are running loose love nothing better than to run along my fence trying to get (inside).”

“All you have to do is drive around and you will see (loose dogs).”

Gum said she’s aware of four residents who have had pets attacked by loose dogs in recent months.

Wilma Bob, who also lives in Worley, had her Pomeranian named Chewbacca attacked by two dogs. “Chewy” was so injured that Bob and her husband had to put the dog down.

Bob said police approached the residents who own the dogs that attacked Chewy, but the people denied owning the dogs so police said there was nothing they could do.

“No organization will take responsibility for dog control in the area,” said Bob, adding that a lack of resources is often cited by law enforcement as a problem.

Eric Kendra, superintendent at the Coeur d’Alene Tribal School in DeSmet, said he’s not aware of any students who have been attacked by loose dogs, but he’s aware that residents have nuisance concerns.

“In many cases, the dogs follow the kids to school and, whoever is on duty shoos them off,” Kendra said. “Most of the dogs are not aggressive. We did have one case in which a staff member a couple years ago tried to shoo a dog away and he ended up wrestling with the dog. (The staffer) got scraped up.”

Bybee said he’s a dog lover — he and his daughter have a Boston terrier and wiener dog mix named Bandit that was injured by a loose dog — and he’s even given loose dogs attention on occasion. While living in DeSmet he took an injured pit bull to the veterinarian to have stitches after it had gotten roughed up by other dogs.

“(The pit bull) adopted me,” Bybee said.

But Bybee also believes that there’s a problem that needs to be fixed.

“Something needs to be done,” he said. “Some people may get mad at me (for speaking out), but if it saves a kid from getting hurt, it’s worth it.”