Dog held after biting boy

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ULEN - It’s been a scary September for 6-year-old Jaden Folden.

The Georgetown, Minn., boy was visiting relatives in Ulen, Minn., Aug. 30 when he was bit in the face by a black Lab.

Authorities weren’t able to immediately determine the dog’s vaccination status and on Tuesday the Clay County Sheriff’s Department was still working on that question after having seized the dog late last week using a court order. The dog’s owner says the animal’s shots were current at the time of the incident and there is no rabies threat.

The boy’s mother, Tammy Folden, said a doctor came to same conclusion Tuesday because the dog has showed no signs of the disease.

Folden said her son, who suffered puncture wounds above and below one eye and behind his ear, will not have to take rabies shots, but it’s been a frightening experience, nonetheless.

“We’ve been through hell and back,” she said, adding the incident shows the importance of record-keeping when it comes to vaccinations.

According to documents filed in Clay County District Court, the Foldens were visiting the Kerwin Lomsdalen farm near Ulen when the boy was bitten.

When a deputy phoned the dog’s owner, Charles McCarthy, a Ulen farmer, McCarthy was stand-offish and hung up after telling the deputy to call back during business hours, the documents state.

When a deputy called the next day, McCarthy was again uncooperative, according to the documents, which were used to secure a court order that allowed deputies to take the dog.

McCarthy said Tuesday he was irritated by the “belligerent” tone of officers, but he added that at the time he talked to deputies he couldn’t establish the shot history of the dog, whose name is Hunter.

McCarthy said he has since determined Hunter’s shots were good at the time of the incident, though he said it will soon be time for a booster.

He described Hunter as “a super good dog” and said Hunter may have snapped at the boy because of a tender paw.

McCarthy said that at the time of the incident the dog was on loan to Lomsdalen, who was having problems keeping raccoons out of his corn.

He said the Lomsdalens like the dog and he’s considering giving the animal to them.

Chief Clay County Deputy Matt Siiro said because authorities have not received confirmation the dog has valid shots, the animal will be held until Monday.

He said quarantined animals are usually released after 10 days if they show no signs of disease and if the owner pays the cost of boarding the animal, typically about $350.

Siiro said reports have been forwarded to the Clay County attorney’s office for review and he isn’t sure at this point what will happen to Hunter.

Not keeping a dog’s shots up to date is a petty misdemeanor, he said.

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