Elderly woman hospitalized after attacked by dogs

FORT HALL, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - An elderly woman is in the ICU after being attacked by several dogs Sunday.

Fort Hall Dispatch received a call at 10:30 p.m. to an emergency call on Ross Fork Road on the Fort Hall Reservation, and Fort Hall Fire & EMS were dispatched to a person lying along the road.

Upon arrival to the scene, they found a 60-year-old non-native female that had been attacked by several dogs.

The patient was alive and responded to EMS while they were treating her wounds.

Life flight was requested and was met at the old casino parking lot.

The female was flown to Portneuf Medical Center for further emergency treatment.

On Monday, according to hospital staff, she had received two units of blood and was still in surgery.

As of Tuesday, she was flown to the University of Utah for further medical treatment and is still in ICU.

Fort Hall Fish & Game have since collected and euthanized seven of the reported dogs that were involved in the attack for disease testing.

The Tribes have an Animal Ordinance that was approved in 2017 and take this matter seriously for the safety of the community, tribal or non-tribal.

According to the Animal Ordinance, on a ‘Vicious Animal Attack,’ it states, “It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or who has under their immediate care, an animal, when unprovoked that viciously attacks another animal or human being which results in severe injury including but not limited to muscle tears, disfiguring lacerations, multiple sutures, corrective cosmetic surgery or death. Any person found to be in violation or is found to be guilty by the tribal courts, shall be subject to a civil fine not to exceed: $5,000.00 for each violation, quarantine of offending animal at the owner’s expense, medical or veterinary costs of the victim and possible destruction of animal. Chairman Devon Boyer states, “We are doing everything possible to make sure this won’t happen again and we offer prayers of healing to this lady. Our reservation has been an illegal drop off of unwanted animals for years including horses, cats, emu and others. We want the outside community to know that we do have an ordinance and will enforce to the fullest to keep our community safe from these types of vicious attacks.”

Due to the increase of animal neglect on the Fort Hall Reservation, Fort Hall ROAR was created as a reservation based 501 (C) 3 Non-Profit Organization founded by Tribal member Tressa MJ Gonzales that assists the community on various animal situations to prevent dog attacks such as this.

ROAR is the voice for voiceless, the lost, missing, neglected animals at large on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and surrounding areas.

Information on the non-tribal patient is not being shared at this time due to the investigation.

No further information will be provided as it is under investigation by the Fort Hall Police Department.