Judge Rules Dogs That Attacked Hartwell Man Are Dangerous

Three dogs that were part of a pack of four dogs in Hartwell that attacked a man, critically injuring him, have been ruled to be dangerous by a judge.

On July 15, a Hartwell man, whose name has not been released, was walking down Maple St. that night when Hartwell Assistant Police Chief Stan Sayer said the man was attacked by four dogs.

Witnesses to the attack called 911 and when Hartwell Police officers responded, they shot and killed the first dog who started the attack.

Two of the four dogs Sayer said were captured the night of the incident, Sayer said. The fourth dog was surrendered by the owner several days later.

All four dogs were owned by the same person. He is identified as Wantravious Hill.

Hill was charged with four counts of misdemeanor Reckless Conduct for letting his dogs run loose.

Sayer told WLHR News Thursday that a Classification hearing on the three remaining pit bulldogs took place on August 18 at Hart County Probate Court with Hon. Mary Kirk presiding.

Sayer said the scope of the hearing was to determine whether the three remaining Pit Bulls should be classified as Dangerous or Vicious Dogs.

Judge Kirk determined that the three remaining dogs were vicious based on the evidence presented during the hearing.

Now that the judge has ruled the dogs are vicious, the next step for Hartwell Police is to file a civil action in Superior Court requesting the euthanasia of the three remaining dogs.

Under Georgia law, a dog is determined to be vicious if it inflicts serious injury on a person or causes serious injury to a person resulting from reasonable attempts to escape from the dog’s attack or if it attacks and kills a pet animal.

According to Sayer, the attack in July was not the first time there had been reports of dog attacks in that neighborhood.

He said the victim of the attack continues to recover from his injuries.