
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993                   TAG: 9307100261
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DOG'S OWNERS CHARGED IN ATTACK ON GIRL

The owners of a Japanese Akita that attacked a 9-year-old girl in Vinton July 2 have been brought up on criminal charges.

Vinton police charged Pamela Six with owning a vicious dog, a misdemeanor that could cost her up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,500, said Police Chief Rick Foutz. A dog is considered vicious if it bites unprovoked.

Pamela's husband, Stephen Six, has been charged with withholding information about a possibly rabid dog. He faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Vinton animal control officer Lisa Wine said last week that after the dog, named Coda, attacked the girl, Stephen Six took the dog to a relative's house in Salem. Wine later retrieved the dog and placed it in quarantine at the Roanoke Valley SPCA - standard procedure even though the dog had received a rabies vaccination, she said.

Wine said the girl was walking in the Sixes backyard when the dog - who was tied to their porch by a 7-foot rope - bit her on her face, shoulder and thigh. Pamela Six said Coda had bitten people on three or four other occasions.

Foutz said a judge will determine whether to have the dog destroyed when the Sixes appear in court July 28.

by CNB