Dogs maul pet donkey

Three dogs mauled a 21-year old pet donkey named Pharlap near the corner of 32nd St. and H Ave. around 2am Tuesday morning. The noise from the attack woke the owner, Rose Orr, who reported seeing pit bulls or mixed-breed pit bulls attacking her donkey.

She told police that one dog was on top of the donkey biting its neck, while another dog had the donkey by its face and the third dog was biting the donkey’s leg. She and her husband, Frank Orr, said they were able to chase off the dogs. The donkey suffered numerous scratches over it’s face, neck, and body and a veterinarian responded and treated the animal. 

The police received 2 additional complaints of pit bulls running loose later that morning and the dog descriptions matched those of the dogs that attacked the donkey. Matrie Padovan, the Animal Control Officer, found 2 matching pit bulls running loose in the area of 10th Street and K Avenue. One of the dogs charged at her and tried to bite her. The other dog was limping and had visible wounds. Both dogs had blood on them and appeared to have been in a fight with something big. 

The dogs ran from the Padovan but were eventually trapped in a fenced yard where they remained aggressive towards her. A woman who knew the dogs arrived and helped put leashes on them and the dogs were taken to the city pound. Donkey hair was found on one of the dog’s chains. 

One of the dog owners was identified as a 28-year-old Anacortes man. Police issued a citation to him for his dog running at large and having no license. He was also given paperwork deeming his dog a potentially dangerous animal. The other dog was believed to have been owned by a 29-year-old Burlington man who was in the county jail, but the man denied owning the animal. The investigation is ongoing to determine the owner of second dog and to identify and locate the third dog involved in the attack.