The Worst Dog Attacks in Seattle History

Seattle may be known for being the top when it comes to coffee, technology, and progressive politics, but many people are surprised to learn we also rank high for a disturbing trend: dog attacks. With so many young professionals and an ever-fluctuating transient population, Seattle really is overrun with dogs. So much so that you don’t have to look far for harrowing stories of dog bites and injuries. Here are 4 of the worst dog attacks in or around the Seattle metropolitan area:

The Wild Dogs of West Seattle

Way back in 2008, Seattle Police were forced to hunt down a roaming pair of pit bulls that had been terrifying the neighborhoods of West Seattle. Witnesses had reported the dogs to Animal Control over and over again for terrorizing local residents. One witness stated that one of the dogs had tried to jump through her window and another resident claimed to have fought the dogs off with an umbrella. The final straw, though, was when the dogs attacked an elderly man and his Chihuahua. The man suffered multiple dog bite wounds to his upper body and even experienced chest pains from the trauma of the attack. A police officer was eventually forced to shoot the dogs with his sidearm after they attempted to attack him and a neighbor.

Beacon Hill Bites

A veterinarian technician got more than she bargained for while running errands in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. While driving down South Cloverdale Street, the vet tech happened upon a woman being attacked by two unleashed pit bulls. With the help of a local man, the vet tech was able to pull the dogs off of the woman and spirit her to safety. Witnesses reported that one of the dogs latched onto her arm while the other pulled her to the ground by her clothing. Once she was on the ground one of the dogs bit her head, ripping out a large tuft of her hair and a good bit of scalp. The vet tech and the local man both suffered minor injuries while rescuing the woman. The pit bulls were eventually euthanized by animal control. The woman eventually made a full recovery.

Canine Chaos at Catholic Academy

This dog attack could have been pulled from the pages of a Stephen King novel. Terror struck an east Seattle Catholic school in late 2018 when a trio of elementary students were attacked by a pit bull. The pit bull in question allegedly escaped from a nearby yard, wandered inside of the Catholic school, and attacked a third grader and two other students. The third grader suffered severe injuries to her head and to her hands and was rushed to Seattle Children’s Hospital for treatment. Two teachers were able to force the dog off of the student and pin it down until police arrived. The other two attacked students were treated with minor injuries.

The Savage RV Camp Attacks in SoDo

A SoDo woman lost a finger after being attacked by a trio of dogs while walking her Great Dane Lili, a mascot for a local dog food company. The dogs apparently burst out of an RV parked at an infamous RV camp in the neighborhood and bit the woman and her dog multiple times before she was able to scare the dogs away. Along with the missing finger, the woman suffered injuries to her hip and legs, as did the Great Dane. This dog bite incident was actually the second such attack caused by dogs belonging to squatters living in the RV camp. Just weeks before an elderly man was attacked by dogs while walking by the RV camp. Local residents said they had complained to the city repeatedly about the RV encampment. Police and city officials eventually cleared out the encampment months later.