Jogger attacked by pit bull says Portlanders speaking up got county to act

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Last month, a woman said she was attacked by a dog while jogging in southeast Portland. She says it bit her on both legs, an arm, and left more than 35 puncture wounds.

Months earlier, a dog belong to Kara Bloom was attacked by another dog. She believes it was the same animal, but says it wasn’t until Cheryl Walker was attacked on her jog that authorities got involved.

On Saturday at 10 a.m., Multnomah County Animal Control said they impounded the dog, a pit bull mix named Bubbie and owned by Jessie Miller.

Walker claims Miller watched as she was attacked from across the street. She says it wasn’t until a good Samaritan driving by saw the attack and laid on their horn that Miller helped get his animal off Walker.

RELATED: Dog that injured Portland jogger impounded by Multnomah County

“I still can’t process that it happened,” Walker said looking down at her wounds. “But, clearly it happened.”

Bloom, who says her dog was attacked by Bubbie in February, said she has been fearing someone else would be attacked.

“I mean, that was my main concern and why I initially filed a police report, because I felt like somebody else was going to get hurt,” Bloom said.

Bloom said her dog Rocky, who she describes as a “gentle guy,” was attacked while on a routine walk and suffered injuries which made vets afraid for his life.

“He and I were both pretty well traumatized,” she said. “Walking and taking our morning walk and getting attacked like that, I’m definitely on guard and he is too.”

Bloom and Walker claim it took thousands of Portlanders speaking up to get police and animal services involved.

Walker said eventually a couple spotted Bubbie roaming the streets, “and it was running around, again off leash, through their neighborhood. They then called animal control and the police, who showed up and did nothing.”

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Animal Control said they couldn’t lawfully seize the animal until a warrant was written by a judge. Which they say the Multnomah County Sherriff’s Office assisted with, and eventually served on May 1.

“They finally started talking to each other and removed the dog from the owner,” Bloom said.

Walker added that she is “grateful for that because I don’t wish this on anybody. What happened to me, I don’t wish this on anybody, but it shouldn’t have had to take this much to get to where we are.”

Walker hopes to press charges against Miller, who has 30 days to appeal the decision to impound his animal.

Animal control says they have the ability to keep the animal impounded throughout any appeal.

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