Two 12-year-old girls injured in dog attack

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

A Midwest City man is facing possible jail time after two of his dogs attacked two girls earlier this month.

Joseph Kriz last week was cited for two municipal counts of having a vicious dog in Midwest City municipal court. Judge David Howell ordered the pit bulls to be euthanized and postponed sentencing until Sept. 14.

The citations are punishable by $311 each and/or up to 30 days in city jail. The city prosecutor is seeking 30 days in jail and fines.

The incident happened on Aug. 19 in the 500 block of E. Fairchild. Kayla King, 12, and her friend, Myah Bishop, 12, said they were playing on a trampoline outside a friend’s house when the dogs attacked. Another girl opened the door and the two dogs charged outside of the house and attacked Kayla.

The dogs started biting her legs, briefly latching onto each leg. Kayla climbed onto the trampoline to avoid the dogs, but they continued to bite at her feet from underneath.

“They were ripping holes in the trampoline, and they were trying to pull her legs,” said her mother Cherokee King.

Several adults tried to stop the dogs, but they continued to pursue the girl. Kayla was able to jump over a fence and get away. Myah’s aunt Brittany Wiyninger picked her up in her car.
Kayla suffered four deep lacerations on her left leg that required stitches. She received several other bites that needed stitches.

“They put her to sleep, cleaned out the wounds, and received rabies shots and sewed her up,” her mother said.

Kayla uses a walker until her legs heal up.

Myah was also injured in the incident. She broke her arm when she fell while trying to help Kayla.

Kriz was not home at the time of the incident.

On Thursday, Kriz appeared in municipal court on the citations. During a brief hearing, Kayla testified along with animal control officer Stephanie Aschenbrenner, who responded to the incident.
Kayla described the incident and her injuries to the judge.

Aschenbrenner spoke about the incident and said that was not the first time that animal control has been called to Kriz’s home. She said one of Kriz’s dogs had bitten someone in April, but the person did not wish to sign a citation. The dog was returned after the 10- day quarantine period, for not having a rabies vaccination. Kriz also surrendered another dog to the shelter due to aggressive behavior.

The judge ordered Kriz to pay the citations and not own a dog again in Midwest City.

“Every responsibility for that dog is on you,” Howell said. “If that happened before then I’m going to do everything I can to not let those dogs out again, or I’m going to get rid of them.”

Kriz did not object to fines but asked the judge to avoid jail time. He said he was recently released from jail and needs to take care of his mother who lives with him.

King said she feels bad about the situation but agreed with the judge’s order that Kriz not own any more dogs.