Cast of characters
India -- a seven year old Australian Shepherd bitch
Spice -- a six year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi bitch
Mango -- a nearly two year old Border Collie bitch
October 15, 2003
It seemed like it would be a busy day. Mike had a minor surgery scheduled in the morning to remove a couple of screws previously placed in his tibia due to a knee injury, the boys had school, but it was a late arrival day. Storey was teaching until about noon then she would zip over to the hospital and pick up Mike.
Mike left first, dropping Robby off a bit early and then going on to the hospital. Storey left next, just after 7 a.m. Angelo had arranged for a friend to come pick him up around 9 a.m.
The dogs were put out with the boys in the side yard, plus Diamond and Charm. The remaining girls had the back yard to themselves.
The back yard is laid out with a covered patio, a fenced-off "people yard," the puppy yard with a low two foot fence, a hot tub, and around the west corner of the house, a long strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry patch that is usually in disarray, overgrown, and rarely harvested. At the far end of the patch is a gate to the front yard. The gate is closed and hasn't been opened in many years. Recently, Angelo weeded the strawberry side of the patch, so one side was cleared.
Storey returned home at noon to pick up a parking pass for the hospital day surgery lot. Mango stood on the patio table barking virtually the entire 10 minutes Storey was in the house. Exasperated, Storey opened the kitchen door to let her in. Spice and India wanted in too, but India isn't always trustworthy in the house and Spice appeared to have recently rolled in the mud. For a half second or so, Spice's condition seemed a bit strange to Storey. Spice likes to roll in dried grass and anything decaying and stinky when she's dry. After a bath she makes a special effort to find a dirt pile to dust off in. She looked like she'd found a dirt pile, but she hadn't had a bath. Hmmm.
Storey rushed off to the hospital and brought home a recovering Mike. After settling Mike in bed with sufficient narcotics to blacken the world around him and Mango on guard in the bedroom, Storey headed out again to pick up the boys, deliver Robby to his French Horn lesson and Angelo to his podiatry appointment. Then she reversed course, picked everyone up again and got home near to 5:30 p.m.
The dogs were barking as the gang pulled into the driveway. Storey opened the dog room door to bring the girls in. Robby and Angelo followed close behind. Storey looked at Spice again; this time in better light. "Why does Spice look like she's been mauled?" she asked aloud. Robby agreed she did indeed look savaged about the head. Angelo remarked how Mango had seemed aggressive toward Spice first thing this morning. As Storey moved Spice closer to her for a thorough examination, Mango moved in over the top of Spice's head, a dominating gesture. Storey pushed Mango away and touched Spice on the left side behind her ribs. Spice yelped and Mango moved in again. Angelo took Mango to her crate while Storey and Robby began to examine Spice. She was indeed coated in mud. But it was mud mixed with blood. A brief palpation of her major skeletal structures revealed significant guarding of the entire abdominal area. Blood spotted her muzzle, her ears, her throat and neck. She was shaking and shocky. But there were no apparent wounds. Not a single break in the skin could be found. Robby wrapped her in a towel and sat down on the dog room couch to calm her.
Storey immediately assumed India had started a bitch fight. Calling India over, Storey examined her. There were flakes of blood and slobbered-on fur around India's throat. She had scuff marks on her left upper lip. Her left hind quarter revealed the only significant wound a hided area with what could be a tooth mark cut through the skin. The skin was only slightly bloodied and already scabbed over. Interestingly, the fur surrounding the wound was clean. There were no signs of dog slobber indicating the wound had been cleaned up and the fur tips had no sign of dried blood.
Angelo brought Mango out of her crate for a once over as well. Like Spice and India, she had a messy ruff with signs of blood and slobber. Indeed, it seemed there had been a fight and Spice had gotten the worst of it at least psychologically, if not physically.
Angelo went outside. He returned rather immediately to report blood on the back patio. Sure enough, spattered around the utility room door, very near the side yard gate where the boys all peered through, were perhaps a dozen or so distinctive drops of blood. For a moment Storey thought perhaps the girls had enough of Charm, the occasionally obnoxious 13 inch Beagle bitch. But a glance in the side yard showed Charm to be alive and well. After a few minutes of thought and additional surveying Storey and Angelo went back inside to report the findings to Mike. Storey gave some consideration to the possibility of another dog getting into the yard expecting a warmer reception. Storey and Angelo went back outside to explore that possibility. Angelo walked over to the strawberry patch. The gate was open; wide open. Storey walked through the area to the gate. Examining the ground she noted a boot print suggesting a human intruder and the snap-link gone from the gate latch. Angelo volunteered he had removed it while cleaning out the weeds. No other evidence was apparent so Storey closed and replaced the snap-link on the gate latch.
After a bit more discussion and investigation the conclusion was inescapable. Someone had come into the back yard and met with a very bitchy reception committee.
Storey called the police to report the crime. The Albuquerque Police Department must have been having a slow night. An officer arrived at what was a priority-three call in less than an hour. Remarkable in itself.
Storey first briefly described the initial scenario that of a dog fight. No doubt the cop was wondering why he had been called to the house. If household pets are fighting is that domestic violence on a family member? Walking him through the physical evidence on the dogs and then taking the officer outside, he quickly agreed the girls had likely sunk their teeth into an intruder. He explained that typically the burglars knock on the front door to see if anyone is home. Doing so would have brought all the boys to the side yard gate on the west side and nearest the front walk. Then a quick peek over the fence might have reassured the tasty fellow that the dogs were all confined to the side yard. Ah, but he was mistaken. Evidently moving to the east side of the house, and with the boys still able to see him through the fence and so continuing to bark, the girls would neither have heard or seen him open the Strawberry gate. They would have remained just around the corner of the utility room until the bad man was well onto the back patio. The fight took place as soon as the girls saw him.
India probably took the lead in attacking with Mango probably getting the bloody bites in. Spice, as is the way of Corgis, probably dodged back and forth in front of the intruder. She took the majority of the punishment, no doubt getting kicked around quite a bit. India seems to have been knocked away and perhaps kicked. The cop thought the wound on her flank was consistent with the toe of a boot scuffing her. Her muzzle wound looked like she had skidded across the flagstone and the inside of her upper flew was bruised where it was caught between her left canine tooth and something hard. Mango was unscathed. The cop made his report and said he would forward the information to the burglary unit. Nothing more can happen enforcement-wise at this point since no felony crime had occurred.
So, once the dogs were cleaned up and loved on, Angelo and Robby promptly stressed out. Dinner was an anxious and tightly-grouped affair. Robby went to bed early with Spice snuggled firmly into his arms, her ears wet from quiet tears of stress and relief. India was splayed out on Robby's floor where, he announced, she was always welcome. Angelo paced, nearly hyperventilated, turned on every light available and finally crashed, exhausted, across the foot of Storey's bed. Mike, amazingly ambulatory given his day's activities, popped a couple more percocets, and snoring quietly, slept the rest of the evening away.
Good dogs.
