Fate of dogs labeled 'potentially dangerous' in judge's hands

KELSO, Wash. - A judge will decide the fate of two German shepherds accused of attacking and biting neighbors.

The Cowlitz County Humane Society says the dogs' owner, Ingrid Sacha, has a history of letting her dogs run loose. Sacha has been fined hundreds of dollars in the last few months for different violations.

The judge will decide whether the dogs will be allowed to go back home or will stay with the humane society and end up being put to sleep.

Sacha says her dogs are not dangerous. She usually has seven German shepherds in her Kelso backyard. But two of them, Lug and Marley, are in quarantine labeled "potentially dangerous" dogs.

The humane society says Lug and Marley attacked a friend of Sacha's, a neighbor who often spent long hours at Sacha's house and who brought two cups of coffee over to her house one morning in November when she was not home.

The neighbor, Elizabeth Elder, said the dogs bit her on the legs, hands and face, opening a gash that required eight stitches to close.

"Honestly, I think they should be put down," Elder said about the dogs. "If they would have got me a half inch lower, they would have gotten my jugular vein and I may not be here today."

"I need to save my dogs' lives," said Sacha. "They're like my kids. My kids are all grown up and out of the house. My dogs aren't dangerous. I walk my dogs all the time."

The humane society says there have been many complaints about Sacha's dogs, including biting people, running loose and being aggressive.

It declared the two dogs "potentially dangerous" and took them away in December.

On Thursday, Sacha went to court to appeal that decision. The judge decided they needed to continue the hearing two weeks from now.