Ronnie Lucero takes one of his pit bull-mix rehab dogs out for some fresh air. Lucero has offered to cover the medical bills of a neighbor who was attacked this week by his dog, Phat Boy.
Mandy Flaig still is sore from the 16 puncture wounds she suffered Wednesday, when a neighbor's pit bull attacked her near her home east of Milwaukie.
Emergency-room physicians cleaned the wounds, putting 26 stitches in her left arm, thigh and calf. But the wounds were still weeping Friday, forcing Flaig to return to OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital for follow-up care.
The 18-year-old is taking strong antibiotics and painkillers, while trying to drive the nightmarish episode out of her mind.
"When the dog had me on the ground, I was thinking, 'This is it,' " Flag said. "He wouldn't let go of me, and I couldn't get away. I thought I was going to be dead."
The dog, properly called an American Staffordshire terrier mix, has been impounded by Clackamas County Dog Services officers and is under quarantine at the county shelter. Mike Bezner, Dog Services' acting manager, said he will ask a hearings officer later this month to declare the dog "dangerous," which could lead to strict confinement or even euthanasia.
The dog's owner, Ronnie Lucero, said he is sorry that "Phat Boy" attacked Flaig and is offering to pay her medical bills. But, he said, someone went up his driveway, opened the latch on the gate and undid the dog's chain to let him out of the yard. Witnesses said the people in Lucero's yard walked off, ignoring Flaig's cries for help.
"What kind of person could do that?" Lucero said. "That's disgusting, and I would love to know who they are. I was sleeping and never heard any of this.
"But at the same time, I don't want them to kill my boy," Lucero said. "I've never had a problem with him. He escaped once before and didn't hurt anybody. When the officers came looking for him the other day, he ran into the laundry room and hid."
Flaig and her mother, Gene, have lived on Southeast Sherrianne Court for about eight years. Flaig graduated earlier this year from Clackamas Web Academy, a charter high school in the North Clackamas School District, and now works at Starbucks and Best Buy.
About three years ago, Lucero moved in across the street and began taking in problem pit bulls, working to rehabilitate them and adopt them out. The ex-con said the dogs have helped him find a purpose, a way to put his former life of gangs and violence behind him.
"I was saved by the love of a dog, a pit bull," Lucero said. "Now I devote myself to rescuing all breeds that need help."
For a while, Lucero said, he operated Diamond Cut Loyalty Canine Rescue and Pit Bull Rehabilitation out of his home. But he has trimmed back and no longer solicits problem dogs.
He currently has nine dogs, including some that have become part of his family. He said Phat Boy, who is about 2 years old, has been with him for just a few months. Phat Boy never got proper attention from his previous owners, he said.
But the Flaigs said they have run out of sympathy and that Wednesday's attack was the last straw. They say they are afraid of what Lucero's dogs might do – whether they escaped on their own or someone let them out.
Gene Flaig said she has called Dog Services at least twice, complaining about aggressive dogs.
"I told them somebody was going to get hurt," Gene Flaig said. "But I never imagined it would be my daughter."
Mandy Flaig said she is haunted by the incident.
"I was walking to my car," she said. "I wanted to visit an old manager of mine who is working in Happy Valley now. But then I heard footsteps in the gravel."
When she turned around, Phat Boy was charging at her. She shoved her purse in the dog's face to distract him, but that only bought her a second – just enough time to turn and run for the deck.
That's when Phat Boy grabbed her thigh and pulled her down. He then clamped his powerful jaws on her arms and calf again and again, releasing for just a moment before biting down again.
Time seemed to slow down, Flaig said. "I was screaming, but the people across the street just walked away," she said. "Thank God some other people heard me."
A woman who had parked her car on the street quickly came running. She grabbed a branch and began beating the dog. A UPS driver making a delivery on the street soon joined her.
Meanwhile, neighbors called 911, bringing the Dog Services officers who seized Phat Boy without incident.
Bezner, the Dog Services manager, said there have been two previous dog-bite complaints directed at the Lucero home. In 2012, a tethered dog bit someone who ventured too close. Last month, two dogs got into a fight. One was so badly injured that it had to be euthanized by a veterinarian.
Lucero, however, said he is willing to take more measures to ensure security for neighbors.
"Justice will have to be served," he said. "I know that. And I'm looking to move out of the neighborhood, anyway."
The Flaigs said that would suit them just fine.
-- Rick Bella