Two misdemeanor citations issued after dog mauling in Driggs
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DRIGGS — The Teton County Prosecutor has issued two misdemeanor citations stemming from an April dog mauling incident that sent a five-year-old Driggs boy to the hospital.
Trent Dayton and Joey “Lisa” Dayton of Driggs were each charged with one count of possessing a dangerous and at-risk dog. The misdemeanor counts carry fines of between $200 to $5,000.
The citations were obtained through multiple public information requests by EastIdahoNews.com. Court records do not indicate what happened to the dogs after the mauling incident.
According to the probable cause declaration, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from Teton Valley Hospital on the evening of April 6 for a reported animal bite.
RELATED | Local boy home from hospital after dog mauling
John and Jessie’s Vrabrec’s son Sawyer, 5, was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center that same evening with severe wounds to his face and eye. According to the court filings, John reported to the Teton County Sheriff deputy that he was suspicious that it was the neighbor’s dog to the east of the family’s residence that could be responsible for his son’s injuries.
Documents show the sheriff’s office found blood in the Vrabrec’s backyard and inside the family’s home. It was unclear in the court filings who was home at the time the boy was injured, but court documents show John found his son, “lying on the bed covered in blood, bite marks and whimpering in pain,” after he came home from work that evening.
The court filings do not indicate when the deputy talked with the Daytons, but said that during a conversation with the couple, the Dayton’s presented their four dogs, three French bulldogs, and one female boxer. The deputy took pictures of the dogs.
According to court filings, the Daytons said they had a doggie door where the dogs could come and go unsupervised and that the dogs were unsupervised the evening of April 6th around 5:30 p.m.
The sheriff office interviewed the boy after he returned home from the hospital on Monday, April 10. In the court filings, Sawyer reported two dogs attacked him and that he “attempted to kick at them, but they kept attacking him and knocked him over and dragged him on the ground when he tried to run away.”
The boy identified the boxer as the dog who bit him. It’s not clear how Sawyer got away from the canines.
The case has not been made public in the iCourts system — so it is unknown when the case will be scheduled before a magistrate judge. Teton County Prosecutor Bailey Smith said she could not comment further on the case.
The case has drawn the attention of Teton County leadership, who carved out meeting time on April 24 to look at Teton County’s handling of animal control in general and discuss the ongoing debate of hiring a full-time animal control officer. In that meeting, Teton County Sheriff Clint Lemuix said he would prefer to have another full-time deputy over an animal control officer.
John took to social media this week, posting on the Community Page of Teton County on Facebook that he has spoken with the Driggs mayor and city council regarding dogs at large. He wrote, “I would encourage all of the great people of this valley to express your concerns with all of [our] local leaders to take action and spend our tax dollars appropriately that ensure and create public safety.”
The Teton County Commissioners plan to continue their discussion on animal control at their next meeting on Monday, May 8. The agenda has not been posted as of the publication of this article.