A 48-year-old Manteca man was found guilty for the possession of a vicious dog within the city limits by a San Joaquin County Superior Court jury last Thursday in a Tracy courtroom.
Mark McGlynn requested the jury trial following a March incident where his Labrador pit bull mix, “Lucky, ” attacked a woman and her cocker spaniel-corgi mix that she was walking in the 900 block of East North Street at about 5 p.m. eight months earlier in March.
Cindy Reich received a severe bite through her hand and her dog, “Ginger” was attacked in the left hind quarter that put the animal in a veterinary hospital for several days.
When the attack occurred traffic reportedly stopped on North Street and two men from the neighborhood ran to the woman’s aid and attempted to pry the larger dog’s jaws off of the cocker spaniel.
A third neighbor ran back to his home on Raylow to get a hammer to break the dog’s bite hold, but it was too late and it wasn’t needed, he said. A Manteca woman driving down North Street witnessed the attack and stopped using her ONSTAR device to call police and then called for the nearest available vet.
The victim told the court that the pit bull was stalking her and her 12-year-old daughter and their dog as they were walking across the street from its home on the corner of Raylow Avenue. She said the pit bull lunged at her Spaniel as she tried to defend her pet and herself with her hands and arms ending up on the ground with them.
Reich testified that she half ran backwards toward her home pulling her dog on the leash – adding there was no face-to-face confrontation between the two animals. She said the pit clamped onto to her dog with his teeth and shook her dog like a rag doll once it had gotten hold of her hind quarter.
McGlynn countered at the trial, saying the woman’s dog snapped at his dog first which, he testified, started the confrontation. He said they were “just circling each other smelling butts.” He said his dog was smaller than the Spaniel, however the victim stated her dog was only 12 inches high, 20 inches long, with two-inch legs.
He added that he had seen her dog on numerous occasions chasing other dogs from the Raylow Court area where it lived. The victim shook her head in disbelief from her seat in the courtroom.
Animal control officer Les Rowe said he had warned McGlynn about keeping the unaltered male dog – part pit bull – within the city limits following an earlier stay at the dog pound. Rowe quoted the owner as saying the dog would be kept at a family ranch in Linden and not in Manteca.
McGlynn was found guilty in the two-day trial and given three years probation, a fine of $200 and 80 hours of community service time that is expected to be worked off at the Delta Humane Society animal shelter. The court ordered McGlynn to stay away from the victim’s home and to keep away from the victim and from her family members.
Lucky has been in the Manteca pound since March, being held as a vicious animal pending outcome of the court action against its owner. Once the appeal period for the jury conviction is over, the dog is expected to be put down.
Some five letters were sent to the city over the attack – letters by residents in the area showing their concern over the dog including one from St. Paul’s Methodist Church fearing for children in its preschool at Powers Avenue and North Street – just two blocks away. Reich said that while her dog has physically recovered it has become anxious about going on a walk.
Manteca mail carrier Ken Meadows had a similar situation develop in the mid-‘80s when he said he was delivering mail to the McGlynn residence at the corner of North Street and Raylow Avenue.
Meadows recalled that the city took both pit bulls and a German shepherd out of the residence some 25 years ago. He said the 200 block of North Raylow, at North Street, was a county island within the city back then. The city’s animal control officer caught up with the dogs when they allegedly chased the carrier into the city, Meadows said.
Still delivering mail to the neighborhood, he said that McGlynn sicked his two pit bulls on him, with the city designing its vicious dog ordinance as an outcome of that incident and two others that were unrelated in the area.
It was a time when several pit bulls were roaming the neighborhood killing cats. A PG&E worker sustained serious body and facial injuries by one of the animals that mauled the worker.
The trial was prosecuted by assistant city attorney Don Lupul, and the court- appointed defense attorney was Scott Thibodeaux.
Mark McGlynn requested the jury trial following a March incident where his Labrador pit bull mix, “Lucky, ” attacked a woman and her cocker spaniel-corgi mix that she was walking in the 900 block of East North Street at about 5 p.m. eight months earlier in March.
Cindy Reich received a severe bite through her hand and her dog, “Ginger” was attacked in the left hind quarter that put the animal in a veterinary hospital for several days.
When the attack occurred traffic reportedly stopped on North Street and two men from the neighborhood ran to the woman’s aid and attempted to pry the larger dog’s jaws off of the cocker spaniel.
A third neighbor ran back to his home on Raylow to get a hammer to break the dog’s bite hold, but it was too late and it wasn’t needed, he said. A Manteca woman driving down North Street witnessed the attack and stopped using her ONSTAR device to call police and then called for the nearest available vet.
The victim told the court that the pit bull was stalking her and her 12-year-old daughter and their dog as they were walking across the street from its home on the corner of Raylow Avenue. She said the pit bull lunged at her Spaniel as she tried to defend her pet and herself with her hands and arms ending up on the ground with them.
Reich testified that she half ran backwards toward her home pulling her dog on the leash – adding there was no face-to-face confrontation between the two animals. She said the pit clamped onto to her dog with his teeth and shook her dog like a rag doll once it had gotten hold of her hind quarter.
McGlynn countered at the trial, saying the woman’s dog snapped at his dog first which, he testified, started the confrontation. He said they were “just circling each other smelling butts.” He said his dog was smaller than the Spaniel, however the victim stated her dog was only 12 inches high, 20 inches long, with two-inch legs.
He added that he had seen her dog on numerous occasions chasing other dogs from the Raylow Court area where it lived. The victim shook her head in disbelief from her seat in the courtroom.
Animal control officer Les Rowe said he had warned McGlynn about keeping the unaltered male dog – part pit bull – within the city limits following an earlier stay at the dog pound. Rowe quoted the owner as saying the dog would be kept at a family ranch in Linden and not in Manteca.
McGlynn was found guilty in the two-day trial and given three years probation, a fine of $200 and 80 hours of community service time that is expected to be worked off at the Delta Humane Society animal shelter. The court ordered McGlynn to stay away from the victim’s home and to keep away from the victim and from her family members.
Lucky has been in the Manteca pound since March, being held as a vicious animal pending outcome of the court action against its owner. Once the appeal period for the jury conviction is over, the dog is expected to be put down.
Some five letters were sent to the city over the attack – letters by residents in the area showing their concern over the dog including one from St. Paul’s Methodist Church fearing for children in its preschool at Powers Avenue and North Street – just two blocks away. Reich said that while her dog has physically recovered it has become anxious about going on a walk.
Manteca mail carrier Ken Meadows had a similar situation develop in the mid-‘80s when he said he was delivering mail to the McGlynn residence at the corner of North Street and Raylow Avenue.
Meadows recalled that the city took both pit bulls and a German shepherd out of the residence some 25 years ago. He said the 200 block of North Raylow, at North Street, was a county island within the city back then. The city’s animal control officer caught up with the dogs when they allegedly chased the carrier into the city, Meadows said.
Still delivering mail to the neighborhood, he said that McGlynn sicked his two pit bulls on him, with the city designing its vicious dog ordinance as an outcome of that incident and two others that were unrelated in the area.
It was a time when several pit bulls were roaming the neighborhood killing cats. A PG&E worker sustained serious body and facial injuries by one of the animals that mauled the worker.
The trial was prosecuted by assistant city attorney Don Lupul, and the court- appointed defense attorney was Scott Thibodeaux.
