Vicious the dog brings charge to its owner

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: April 10, 2008 - 2:40 PM

Jacquelyn English of Inver Grove Heights was charged with misdemeanors alleging that her dog caused harm, was at large and unlicensed. Her dog was put down.

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Vicious, a pit bull-boxer mix that attacked and killed a smaller dog being walked by an Inver Grove Heights woman out for a stroll with her grandson, has been put down and its owner has been charged with three misdemeanors, police said Wednesday.

Margaret Johnston, 70, was bitten on the leg by Vicious on March 26 after she tried to fend off the larger dog from her miniature schnauzer. Johnston said she was "rassling with this dog" for probably 5 minutes, and they rolled down a hill near Simley Island pond.

Vicious' owner, Jacquelyn English of Inver Grove Heights, was charged with misdemeanors alleging that her dog caused harm, was at large and unlicensed.

English's son, Ronnie English, 21, said Vicious "wasn't really vicious" and blamed Johnston for being bitten by his 70-pound dog.

"The lady socked him," the son said. "What kind of idiot really gets in the middle of a dog fight?"

Johnston said she has no regrets about stepping in to defend 11-pound Schultzie. "It wouldn't have happened if they had kept their dog under control," she said.

Four-year-old Vicious was quarantined at an animal hospital for 10 days, then put down last Sunday at the owner's request, police said. The English family and the city said that Vicious was not rabid and that all of his shots were current, meaning Johnston was able to halt her rabies shots.

Ronnie English added that Vicious, which he got as a puppy, had never attacked anyone before, but that he felt forced to have the dog put down because it would have been too expensive to meet all the municipal requirements in order to keep the dog.

PAUL WALSH