Bite Costly for Devils Lake Man
www.devilslakejournal.com
By Louise Oleson
November 10, 2004, DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA --Devils Lake Municipal Court Judge Peter Halbach ruled Tuesday that Tim Gratton had violated a Devils Lake City Ordinance against having a dangerous animal within the city limits.
Witnesses testified about the incident that occurred on Aug. 28 at 5:38 p.m. when police were summoned to the 800 block of Fourth Ave. in Devils Lake. A 2-year-old girl, later identified as Jasmine Sharbono, had been bitten in the face by a dog.
Sharbono had been playing in the neighborhood with other children and had somehow entered Gratton's yard and been attacked by the dog although the dog was chained up in the back yard. The child's injuries were so severe that she was airlifted to Minneapolis for surgery.
Investigators on the scene determined what dog was involved. The dog, a black lab named Buddy, was born in Dec. of 2002 and belonged to Tim Gratton, one of Sharbono's neighbors. At the time of the incident, Buddy was 20 months old.
According to testimony at the hearing, records showed the dog had been vaccinated for rabies and distemper on Mar. 18, 2004, at the Lake Region Veterinary Clinic. However, after the dog had been euthanized and its brain tested, it was determined by the North Dakota Department of Health Lab that it was infected with rabies.
