A pit bull attack was brought to the attention of Blue Earth City Council during their regularly scheduled meeting this last Monday.
According to the police report, on April 7th, the Blue Earth Police Department received a report of a dog bite at an address on East 4th Street in Blue Earth. The dog ran off from its owner’s property to attack a small dog in another lawn. The owner of that dog scooped up the small dog and while protecting it, the pit bull bit the man’s wrist, leaving puncture wounds. The pit bull only ended its attack after the owner caught up to it.
Police interviewed the victim and the owner of the dog, Brandon West and determined that removing the dog for the time was the best choice. While interviewing West, the report states that he was argumentative and denied a bit taking place. The responding officer believed West was under the influence as he smelled of alcohol while he spoke.
After interviews, it was determined that the pit bull should be taken and held at the humane society until vaccination records could be produced and once they were, the dog would be returned to its owner.
After the council reviewed the reports and interviewed West himself, the dog was designated as dangerous and its owner, Brandon West, was given a period of 14 days to meet state statutory requirements for owning a dangerous dog. Until those requirements are met, the dog will be held at the humane society.
This is the second dog and dog attack from the same residence. In 2020, West had another pit bull that also ran from their yard to attack a nearby resident. That attack resulted in the dog being put down.
After a rowdy and argumentative meeting, where West used vulgar language toward various members of the council and blamed them for his dog biting someone, he left after receiving the council’s ruling.
The Council then moved on to other business, but about a half hour later, Elizabeth Ramirez, West’s significant other, appeared in the council chambers. Mayor Scholtes provided a summary of the ruling and wished her well, however Ramirez allegedly went on a rant about how the city’s construction had destroyed their invisible fence, thus blaming the city and the mayor personally for the dog attack. She allegedly refused to hear the council and reportedly escalated to yelling withing the chambers and threatening litigation against the mayor, before storming out of the chambers.
By state statute, the dog’s owners are now required to fence in the property and will have stricter guidelines they will have to follow to keep the dog.