Emotional wounds opened by story
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I read with great interest the article, “Animal labeled as ‘terror’ after second attack,” which appeared in the Aug. 6 edition of the Observer-Reporter. I am sure it is difficult to be 100 percent accurate when so many opinions are involved, but I find the quotations in the story from Sean Kenavey to be completely unacceptable.
The incident that occurred with our greyhound, Grace, was not a minor altercation as he indicates. She did not simply slip out of her collar and run. She was pinned to the pavement in the middle of Hutchinson Avenue in Canonsburg with my husband beating on the other dog trying to get him off her. She sustained multiple bite wounds, including one on her head and a very deep wound on her knee from the pavement. She freed herself from a harness, not a collar, she was so terrified.
All of this was documented by our veterinarian and is on record with Kym Secreet, Canonsburg’s animal control officer, and with District Judge David Mark. Kenavey was ordered to cover our vet fees of $1,400, which included care overnight. If it was an unfortunate incident and not much of an altercation, I do not believe that the bill would have been more than $1,000 or that Mark would hold him responsible.
In addition, the state fines that would have been enforced at that time were waived, as it was considered in the best interest of the community for Kenavey to have a fence around his property. The magistrate indicated that if progress was not made with the installation of the fence in 60 days, Kenavey would have to pay $1,700 in fines.
I believe you could have easily verified any of Kenavey’s statements with either me, my husband or, if you preferred an objective opinion, the animal control officer or our veterinarian. Allowing him to be dismissive in print regarding what we went through because of his negligence is very upsetting. The latest incident has opened emotional wounds for my family and me and we are deeply saddened for the McCay family, whose dog was apparently also attacked by Kenavey’s dog, and very concerned for everyone in our neighborhood. Giving him a voice to make light of this is, in my opinion, very poor judgment.
Sherri Verner Sulkowski
Canonsburg