OGDEN -- Isis and Oggie are dogs who hate each other's guts. This vitriolic relationship got them and their owners into very expensive trouble.
The dogs got 10 days in jail. Their owners each paid several hundred dollars in impound fees, vet fees and hospital bills. The owners also ended up in a dogfight with Ogden Animal Services, which they said overreacted to what they insist was a simple accident.
"I just feel like I've been punished for obeying the law, is all," said Dale Parkinson, who owns Isis.
Bonnie Harger, who owns Oggie, feels the same way.
"In this scenario, where it's just an accident, there's no grace," she said. "We fall under the whole umbrella of everyone's dog is a bad dog, and they're trying to protect us all from them."
Ogden Animal Services Director Bob Geier said protecting everyone is precisely what he is trying to do.
Rabies is always fatal. It is spread by dogs, cats, bats, ferrets and other animals. The law is harsh, he said, but it has prevented any cases of rabies in Utah for years. The one rabid animal he saw last year was a bat.
Geier said he sees between 200 and 300 dog bite cases a year. "We had one last week, the dog was within a centimeter of the kid's jugular."
Isis, an 8-year-old rottweiler/Lab mix, is owned by Dale and Dale Parkinson in the 1100 block of Collins Avenue. Oggie, a 4-year-old poodle/Jack Russell mix, is owned by Har-ger, who lives around the corner in the 200 block of Harrison Boulevard.
On July 28, Mr. Parkinson took a walk with Isis. When they got home Oggie spotted Isis, lunged, broke his tie-out chain and charged. Oggie didn't care that Isis weighs about 50 pounds more. He attacked, Isis defended, the next thing Parkinson knew Isis had Oggie by the neck.
Parkinson tried to pry open Isis' jaws. His wife came out to help. By the time they'd separated the dogs both people had been bitten by Oggie. Oggie got bitten by Isis.
Mrs. Parkinson's bite, on one finger, got infected and her hand swelled up. She went to a doctor who, following the law, notified the city of a dog bite. Ogden Animal Services investigated and ordered both dogs impounded and quarantined for 10 days at the owners' expense.
The Parkinsons and Harger said that was overkill. Isis' rabies shots are up to date. Oggie's last rabies shot expired in March. Both dogs, they insist, are healthy.
Geier said none of that matters. The city ordinance and the Utah Department of Health's rules allow no leeway.
Ogden's statute says, "Any animal of a species subject to rabies that bites or is suspected to have bitten a person or animal, or is
suspected of having rabies, or that has been bitten by an animal subject to or suspected of having rabies, shall be seized and securely confined."
Geier said that "subject to or suspected of" language means all dogs, including those who have been vaccinated. Utah's health guidelines also say to quarantine dogs that bite for 10 days "regardless of vaccination status."
Ogden's law says animals can be quarantined at home, and inspected there daily, "at the discretion of the Animal Services manager." Mr. Parkinson said his vet warned him about diseases Isis could catch at the animal shelter, and asked Geier for home confinement.
"We said we wanted to do that because I wanted to get my dog out of that pit down there," Parkinson said. "My dog is exposed to every disease down there."
Geier said home quarantine was impossible.
"We have nine dogs impounded here right now," he said Wednesday. His two animal control officers already answer 30 regular animal calls a day. They don't have time to schedule home visits.
Geier also said too many people ignored or violated the rules when he did allow home quarantine. "So it's just a matter of what do we do," visit dogs at their homes or answer stray dog calls?
He can let owners put their pets in an animal hospital or kennel, at their own expense. The Parkinsons did that.
Harger let the city keep Oggie for the 10 days. She knew her dog was late on his shots, and said she didn't know her dog had to have a city license, but still thinks the city was harsh.
"I can't believe this is happening over this whole thing," she said. "They cited me for the leash law, licensing, unlawful animal attack, and rabies vaccination."
Between those, plus the impound fees, she's looking at several hundred dollars.
Geier said "We've talked to everyone with these folks, and I hope they understand. They wanted to be treated differently than other folks, and we just can't do that. Everyone loves their dog and everyone thinks their dog is not going to do anything. But they do. We're here trying to protect people."
Mr. Parkinson said he was so frustrated that "if I'd known what I know now, I'd have told my wife to lie and say we didn't know whose dog it was."
That would not be wise. Utah's law says if a person is bitten by a dog, and the dog can't be found, to start rabies treatments immediately.
The Parkinsons visited Isis at a local animal hospital every day. Monday was the last day of quarantine, and they were there bright and early.
They paid the $120 boarding fee and took Isis out on a leash.
Isis was covered in loose hair from stress. She spent five minutes rolling and jumping around the Parkinsons, glad to be out.
The Parkinsons said the first visit would be to get her a bath, then home.
And in the future, they said, they'll keep her well away from Oggie.
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