Owner at a loss to explain attack by dogs

Jace Radke

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

Dail Kohler doesn't know what may have caused her four Great Danes -- all training as show dogs -- to savagely attack 11-year-old neighbor Michael Foley.

But she is sure of one thing.

"I know that it was nothing Michael did, because he is the nicest, kindest boy," Kohler said. "Sometimes you get kids that will poke and prod at animals, but Michael didn't do that, and that's why this is so bizarre."

Michael Foley was feeding the dogs Wednesday afternoon at Kohler's home in a rural neighborhood off U.S. 95 near the turnoff to Mount Charleston when the animals attacked, Las Vegas Animal Control officials said.

Chuck Foley, Michael's father, heard his son's screams and was able to scare off the dogs.

Foley was listed in serious condition Thursday at University Medical Center after undergoing emergency surgery Wednesday evening.

"His condition is improving," UMC spokesman Rick Plummer said. "He has been taken off a ventilator and is breathing on his own."

Kohler has been raising and showing Great Danes for more than 30 years. Nessie, she said, had been a champion in Mexico, and Kohler was training the younger dogs to follow.

The two 18-month-old male dogs, Star and Jack, weigh 140 pounds each. Two females, an 18-month-old Nessie and 7-year-old Dilly, each weigh 110 pounds.

Kohler, who returned to Las Vegas from a business trip to Chicago late Thursday night, said there was no excuse for what her four 18-month-old dogs did to Foley.

"There is no reason for dogs to bite people," Kohler said. "There is absolutely no excuse for it, and all I care about now is that Michael is going to be OK."

Kohler said she didn't know if she would contest Las Vegas Animal Control officials ruling that the four dogs are "vicious" and should be euthanized.

"I haven't really had a chance to think about that," Kohler said. "I can't justify what they did, and if I have to put them to sleep I will."

Kohler, who had yet to talk to animal control officials when she was interviewed by the Las Vegas Sun this morning, has 10 days to decide if she will request a hearing before the animal advisory committee, said Sgt. John Fudenberg, a Las Vegas City Marshal and spokesman for animal control.

A municipal court judge would ultimately decide the dogs' fate, Fudenberg said.

"There are only two options," Fudenberg said. "She can give up the dogs to be euthanized or she can make a written request for a hearing. If there is a hearing the advisory committee will make a recommendation to a judge, who will make the decision."

A group of residents comprise the advisory committee, which is headed by Mike Sheldon, director of detention and enforcement for the City of Las Vegas.

The four dogs are being held at Lied Animal Shelter, until their fate is determined.

Kohler had a fifth Great Dane that she had euthanized in October after it attacked another dog in the neighborhood that surrounds the 8600 block of Rocky Avenue.

"It's shocking to me because this is a neighborhood where everyone has animals and all the children play with them," Kohler said. "Michael has played with my dogs since they were puppies."

Kohler said that the four dogs are normally very friendly and kind, despite their large size.

"That's why Great Danes are called gentle giants," Kohler said. "In any breed you have individual dogs that do unexplained things, but these were good dogs.

"I love working with Great Danes because of their temperament. I don't know if I'll own Great Danes again, it's too soon to say. Maybe if I do own a dog again it will just be a mutt from the pound."