A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by clients and friends to raise money to cover the medical and legal expenses for a professional dog walker who was seriously bitten by a dog on North Poinsettia Street a little more than a week ago.
Kathleen “Kathy” Schaurer, a professional dog walker, was picking up a dog that belonged to the owner of a condo on Poinsettia Place when a dog belonging to neighbor next door tried to attack the dog she was walking. During the attack, the dog bit Schaurer, who sustained serious injuries to her hand and shoulder. Paramedics were called and attended to her. However, officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Station said they would not take a report about the attack unless Schaurer came to the station, which she was physically unable to do.
Schaurer has had two drains inserted into her right hand that will remain through the end of June. Her thumb is blackened. She is being treated with large amounts of antibiotics to treat an as-yet-undetermined infection from the bite. The GoFundMe page shows a cloth with a large amount of blood as well as blood on the pavement attributed to the incident.
According to Schaurer, the owner of the dog has refused to make him available for testing so that her doctor can determine the cause of the infection and use the appropriate medication. Schaurer said that L.A. County Animal Care and Control needs to take a report on the issue and that the county Health Department must put the dog under quarantine and test the dog to determine what might be causing Schaurer’s infection. She said that the dog’s owner, Rex Freiberger, has told her that the dog is under quarantine but will not disclose whether he is being tested. The client whose dog Schaurer was walking told WEHOville that Freiberger has said his dog is under quarantine at Berkeley Pet Hospital in North Hollywood.
However, when questioned by WEHOville, Freiberger said that the quarantine he mentioned actually involved taking the dog to the house of a friend outside the city. Freiberger said that his veterinarian told him that his dog has been vaccinated for rabies and that that is the only disease that the dog could transmit to Schaurer. WEHOville informed Freiberger that the Centers for Disease Control lists five diseases that can be transmitted to human beings who suffer a dog bite. Two of the most serious are MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a type of staph infection that is resistant to a certain group of antibiotics and can “cause skin, lung, and urinary tract infections in people,” the CDC says on its website. “In some people, MRSA can spread to the bloodstream or lungs and cause life-threatening infections.” Another is tetanus, which the CDC says “causes rigid paralysis in people and could be a problem in deep bite wounds.”
Freiberger’s dog is a large Labrador retriever/collie mix named Forrest. Freiberger acknowledged that a friend who was at his apartment let the dog out the apartment door without putting him on a leash. Schaurer said that she had just picked up the other dog, on a leash, for a walk and turned towards the walkway, only to find Freiberger’s dog was charging towards her. Freiberger’s friend stepped away during the attack and finally responded when Schaurer pounded on the apartment door, at which point she took the dog inside.
Neighbors have reported other biting incidents involving Freiberger’s dog, including an attack on a small child on Poinsettia and on a delivery person. While he initially denied any such incidents, in an interview with WEHOville he conceded that there have been several but described them as minor.
Schaurer said that she hopes this incident will raise awareness among dog owners of the requirement that their dogs be vaccinated and registered with the L.A. County Animal Control. “People have to realize that there are laws for a reason. It’s not only to protect people, it’s to protect animals.”
This poor woman who suffered some self-centered neighbor’s dog attacking her only demonstrates that WEHO is not safe with these unleashed hounds around. I carry Mace now after some neurotic little comfort pooch starting snapping at me in Gelson’s. I told the owner, a hot muscled bound looking millennial, to please get his special fido out of my way. He smiled, then the comfort hound nervously started peeing all over the salad bar floor edges, and the market manager asked the millennial to leave and take his baby comfort pouch with him. I, of course, took endless selfies and videos… Read more »
And what about keeping dogs out of supermarkets and other establishments they don’t belong in? Food shopping has become an anxiety producing experience as I never know if a dog is going to possibly bite me. This situation has gotten totally out of control.
They do have meds for such said anxiety! Not all dogs are bad…just like humans!
Observer is right, dogs have absolutely no place in supermarkets. I worry more about them urinating on the lower shelves in the aisles than getting bit. Or tripping on their leashes or getting mange from the cart they’ve been sitting in.
A few years ago while shopping at Pavilions I saw a lady who was carrying her small dog, stop to choose some corn on the cob. While she examined her selections she sat the dog on top of the corn.
I never see dogs at Trader Joe’s. If I shopped at a supermarket that let dogs in, I would complain. If they did not stop the practice, I would shop somewhere else. (Prior to reading this page, I could not fathom food stores that allow pets.)
I’ve seen dogs at Trader Joe’s many times, Joshua88. I complained to the manager once and he said that he hates it, too, but there is nothing they can do. All the customer has to say are those two words, “service dog”, and that’s it. Management can’t even ask for proof of their need for a service dog, which should include registration and a vest on the dog.
A while back I counted seven dogs in CVS, and two in IHOP, one of which was running around loose and barking.
Please, City Council, do something about this.
This is really valuable information and I’ll be using it. But why has management at Pavilion’s, Trader Joe’s, CVS, and Marco’s Restaurant told me there is nothing they can do? They say it is considered harassment to ask for proof of registration or why the dog is not wearing a vest, AND, they say, “emotional support” and “therapy animals” are allowable. Where did you see dogs relieve themselves? You didn’t say. Was it in grocery stores and restaurants? I went into GNC at Beverly Center a few years ago right after a dog had peed on the counter while a… Read more »
This article offers some explanation of the restrictions business owners face on inquiring about service animals: https://staging.wehoville.com/2017/03/22/lets-discuss-pooches-problem-public-places/
Thanks for this, Hank. I do recall this article. It helps ….. but it doesn’t! I really wish that “the powers that be” would tackle this issue and come to some black and white conclusion. All the power seems to be with the violators (or, the “crazies”, as I call them).
I am confused in that I clearly remember finding in my own research that pit bulls could absolutely not be used as service dogs. But after I read your post last night and went looking for that same info I haven’t found it.
That is incorrect information. Maybe you could try attending a city council meeting and voicing your concerns. It’s way more effective than commenting on a website.
What info is incorrect, weho adjacent, and what makes you think I haven’t attended city council meetings?
Work responsibilities have kept me from city council meetings for nearly a year now, but I used to attend frequently. But please provide here, if you will, the accurate information that you say is missing which would apparently add to this discussion. This is the place to do that for those people who are following this thread.
This is vicious dog that according to its owner has attacked and bitten others.
The owner is obviously unable to control his dog and should be sued by the victim and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The dog poses a threat to the public.
And why would the victim need to physically go to the police department to file a report instead of sending an officer to her? That makes no sense.
The owner needs to be SUED! WEHO wastes our money on passing Third World laws for corner food stands (spreading disease) instead of addressing the responsibility of aggressive dog owners. Why isn’t the owner of a dog that has bitten before, being criminally charged?
I can’t believe how many pit-bull dogs I see in WeHo which are known to be the most dangerous breed. Their defenders always say it has to do with how they are raised but there are news stories almost daily of an unprovoked attack by a pit-bull that had never previously shown any aggressive behavior. There are several countries, including England and Ireland, that ban pit-bull dogs, but West Hollywood, …. ever welcoming West Hollywood, whose compassion is often without logic, extends a hearty welcome to potentially deadly animals.
ummm this situation has nothing to do with pit-bulls.
It has to do with dangerous dogs and unaccountable dog owners.
Typically these maulings have a lot to do with pitbulls. Her gofundme has a photo of the dog. Looks like a pit…
Doesn’t look like a pit to me.
Per the story, it’s a retriever/collie mix. Not a Pitbull. Get your facts straight.
If you have agressive dogs owrnsrs of weho or Hollywood or Runyon Canyon or Plummer and West Hollywood Parks please put a muzzle on them. Yes even on your own backyard front yard or home. Don’t let them lunge or run off leash or attack people. I can’t even go to Runyon for that reason for fear a dog or multiple dogs could lunge and bite or attack severely maul me. Sorry LA has people why must so many have agressive dogs and avoid deny or blatantly ignore or hide from the issue. At hart dog park a woman’s dog… Read more »
I will donate on her go fund me page. She will need money to sue the owner of the dog. I see many big dogs off leash in West Hollywood. I take my dogs to Griffith Park to walk them. They have park rangers who write tickets for off leash dogs. People should feel safe walking their dogs in West Hollywood. I support a law requiring that dogs in West Hollywood cannot be over a certain size or breed. No one in West Hollywood has a big enough yard for big dogs. It’s cruel to make a big dog live… Read more »
Put the dog down!!
As horrible as this attack is. It’s not the dog’s fault. It was doing what comes natural. It might have thought it was protecting the owner or the property. The dog should be placed somewhere it won’t have contact with people except an owner. The dog’s owner is responsible. Imagine if we “put down” a misbehaving child because of bad parenting. I suggest that dog walkers carry pepper spray for their own protection.
It IS the dog’s fault and the owner. Are you waiting until the nasty beast kills someone or attacks another kid?
As I said, the dog should be placed somewhere it can’t hurt someone. The dog did not attract a “kid”. The owner is responsible just like parents are responsible for their children’s conduct.