The exterior of Bartholomew County Courthouse in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Two dogs in Bethel Village who were taken into custody late last month after one bit the Bartholomew County Animal Control officer are back with their owners.
A female German Shepherd was released shortly after the Aug. 29 incident because she was not involved in the attack on Animal Control officer Dean Satterfield, who was bitten by the second dog without provocation as he was getting out of his truck.
But the male dog who caused a bite wound was kept in custody until early last week, Bartholomew County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said.
Before the male dog was returned, local officials did an inspection of the residence and yard where the two dogs were kept, Kleinhenz said. The Denois Street residents had made a significant investment into their property to help keep the dogs better secured, he said.
However, the male dog has now been legally classified as “vicious,” Kleinhenz said. Essentially, that means that if the German shepherd is ever taken off his owner’s property, the dog must be muzzled, Kleinhenz said.
“I wasn’t real pleased the animal was going back, because I feel for the people in Bethel Village,” Kleinhenz said. “But we’re watching it real closely because we don’t want a vicious animal loose again.”
Although a Bethel Village resident told the commissioner the male German shepherd had been seen roaming the neighborhood once during the past week, the claim has not yet been substantiated, the commissioner said.
Prior to Aug. 29, animal control officers had been sent to Bethel Village multiple times after complaints about the dogs. But every time they arrived, the officers found the dogs back in their backyard where they belonged – until the day that Satterfield was bitten, Kleinhenz said.
Complaints about the two canines began in the fall of 2021, with residents saying the two dogs would escape from their fenced-in backyard and roam the streets and yards of the southern Bartholomew County subdivision.
Residents say a toddler suffered a serve hand injury after one of the dogs bit him, while a number of neighborhood pets had been killed. However, there were no witnesses that saw the dogs kill other animals.
