Man attacked by pit bull shar pei mix in Palm Springs; Animal control seizes animal after dog was initially returned to owner

Update: The Palm Springs Police Department contacted our newsroom and said the dog was seized by Animal Control on Monday. An officer provided the following statement:

“A hearing was held on November 5, 2015. After careful consideration of facts, evidence, and witness testimony that was presented, PSPD made a determination to release the dog back to the owners under the condition that additional enclosures, doors, and other procedures were in place within 45 days. Animal control has attempted to contact the owners a few times to determine the progress. Animal control has since made contact with the owners as a follow up to determine if these conditions have been met and we have determined that the owners failed to satisfy the conditions set forth by the department. As a result of this failure to comply, Animal Control seized the dog today.”

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Stitches were used to close vicious bite wounds on Josh Mainord’s arm and leg.

“My leg was the worst. I have over 18 different punctures in my leg. It was deep. Really deep. He didn’t bite me, he grabbed, he had lock jaw, and he ripped, and ripped, and ripped,” said Mainord while talking about the attack.

Mainord, a solar energy entrepreneur says the attack happened October 21 at a home on Rosa Parks Road while he was selling door-to-door.

According to the police report, someone at the house gave Mainord permission to check the electric meter on the side of the home.

While Mainord was at the meter, the dog ran through an open gate and attacked him in the street in front of the home, pulling him to the ground.

A man in the house heard Mainord’s call for help, and was able to get control of the animal.

“When I talk about it, I have flashbacks, and I think about it, and what did happen, and what could, and it makes me nauseous, and it freaks me out to be honest,” said Mainord.

Mainord, who is self employed and now living in Texas, says he was hospitalized for a couple of days while recuperating from his wounds.

He says he’ll have to pay $2,000 out of pocket to cover his medical bills.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. It was the most traumatic experience of my life to be honest,” said the Texas native.

In early November, Leslie Tisdale, the Animal Control Director for the Palm Springs Police Department investigated, and found the unlicensed dog has been impounded 9 times in the city since November, 2011.

In her report, Tisdale recommended that Caviar be held at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, and be put down.

But that didn’t happen.

During a one hour hearing at the police station, Captain Walter Combs ruled the dog should be returned to its owner, and ordered the owner to put in place a number of safety and security measures aimed at preventing the animal from running free in the future.

“I could have died. I was viciously mauled by a dog, and there was nothing I could do. I’m 6′-4″ and 230 pounds, and I felt defenseless,” said Mainord.

Captain Combs said he allowed the dog to go back to the owner because he did not find “any evidence the dog attacked anyone in the past”.

Also, Combs says the man who had the dog at the home on Rosa Parks Road was not the owner, but a family member of the dog’s owner, who had the animal without permission.

Mainord says he is “stunned” by the decision to return the dog to its owner, and says he plans to sue the city.