The owner of a pit bull in Riverton has been cited after the dog brutally attacked a 64-year-old woman during a morning walk on a local bike path.
At about 8 a.m. Wednesday, a tan-and-white pit bull “came up out of nowhere and jumped on her,” said Bart Ringer, Riverton Police Department communications officer, in a Monday interview with Cowboy State Daily.
Two boys who were in the area called the dog, pinned it to the ground and apologized to the woman, then took the dog and left the area, said Ringer.
The woman had a “considerable amount of blood on her forehead, down the middle of her face, and bite marks on her forehead, nose and upper lip,” said Ringer.
She went to the emergency room. Police responded to a call from the hospital, where the woman gave an account of the incident and a description of the dog.
RPD that day posted on Facebook that they needed “desperately” to find the dog and determine its vaccination status.
“The dog was with 2 young Caucasian males who headed north with the dog,” RPD wrote. The post describes the attack as “brutal.”
The victim later identified the dog from a photograph of a pit bull suspected of the attack. It is up to date on its vaccinations.
The dog’s owner, Zachary Hayne, 37, was cited for a vicious animal incident. Hayne was cooperative with police. The dog, in the owner’s yard, did not seem “overly aggressive” to the visiting police officer at that time though it barked and jumped, Ringer related from the report.
“The victim came in the next day and said she was doing better, and she’s working with our victim’s advocate ladies,” Ringer added.
