“Our babies are family members.” — Brenda Clubine
Annette Imboden was walking her sister Brenda Clubine’s dogs like she has been for years when she saw a silver pit bull eight houses down running toward her and the dogs.
“The dog charged us and started attacking,” Imboden said.
The dogs tried hard to get away from the loose animal. Bella, a 35 pound heeler mix, was able to get loose and run away with her leash still attached to her. Max, the larger 80-pound Shiba Inu, stayed and fought the pit bull.
“I was screaming, hitting and kicking. Doing anything I could to get away from it. I tried to hit it with the leash in my hand. I emptied a whole can of pepper spry on it, and it would not go away,” Imboden said.
She ran into a neighbor’s alcove to try to escape, but the pit bull would not cease. She tried to get into the neighbor’s house to escape once more, but the neighbor didn’t answer the door.
According to her, the dog broke Max’s collar off and bit down to get a hold of his cheek. Max, who knew where his home was, ran back to his owner Clubine with the pit bull still holding on to his cheek.
Clubine heard a bang from her front door and thought her sister was pranking her. She heard it again and opened it up to see the pit bull and Max bleeding all over her front porch.
“Max whined for help and was trying his best to get away. I tried to use our screen door to slam the pit bull away from him. I used my cane, too, to push him away,” she said.
At this point, Clubine says she was screaming for help and neighbors came out to help.
“One guy came out with a bat, another with a gun. One lady called animal control, too. Finally, one braver man got a hold of the pit bull and held it until animal control came to get him,” she said.
Imboden, who had to go to the emergency room for her injuries, says she sprained her knee and had to get a tetanus shot because one of her bitten fingers turned black underneath her nail.
Animal control told the sisters that the pit bull wasn’t licensed. Clubine said the owners got the dog back anyway, despite a neighbor’s video footage of the attack.
“I am scared to go out now. I am scared to even just get the mail. I’m a big girl, too, but I do not want to go out,” Imboden said.
She already suffers from PTSD due to people attacking her a while ago.
Clubine is trying to get some legal change by calling State Rep. Jason Harper, but she has not heard back.
“I am heart sick. Are we so hardened that we don’t help someone in need anymore? We are a neighborhood and have to stick together. If someone is screaming on your porch, help them,” she said.
After the attack, Clubine aims to change legislation around dangerous dogs.
