Neighborhood feud escalates after a recent dog attack in Santee





SANTEE (KUSI) — It’s one of the most horrifying things you’ll ever see. A German shepherd and a pit bull ripping each other apart. It’s nasty enough to see this kind of thing once. But twice? Brutal.

“I witnessed by neighbors dog getting attacked by the pit bull, locked on his neck,” said George Scott of Santee.

The same thing happened with the same dogs two years ago.

The latest drama began when Mike Clinger was playing baseball with his son in their front yard. Suddenly, a bicycle rider and his pit bull stopped in front of the house, for some reason.

“He stopped and started doing something. No reason to stop except to cause trouble,” said Mike Clinger, owner of the German shepherd named Zuess.

And trouble it was. Clinger’s German shepherd heard the pit bull outside and darted out the front door for a nasty battle. Both dogs needed medical help and so did the owner of the German shepherd.

“He attacked me, he started punching me and kicking my dog. Then he threw an aerosol can at my chest,” Clinger said.

The Clingers don’t deny fault. They admit that they should have locked the door to keep Zuess inside. But they didn’t.

“I would have paid for their vet bill, I know we were in the wrong, but after he assaulted me, I’m done with it,” Clinger said.

Instead, the Clinger family has filed assault charges against the owner of the pit bull who attacked him. They also want a restraining order to keep him away from their home and family.

“I am shaken, Elise Clinger said. “He’s putting up hundreds of flyers with our address, saying we have a killer dog. Our kids walk to school every day and see these flyers. I’m worried about this man.”

Making matters even uglier. The owner of the pit bull has been calling the city and blowing the whistle on “code violations” around his neighborhood. The Clinger family was forced to take down a small home office in their garage and lay down rocks under their jets skis after the complaints were filed.

“This man is a terrorist,” Clinger said. “The guy rides by our house three times a day, taunting and trying to get our dog to react.”

The Sheriff’s Department has the case, but it does not appear to be urgent. As for the Clinger family.

“He’s basically disrupted our lives, we can’t do the things we normally do. I feel like law enforcement needs to help,” Elise said.

As for the owner of the pit bull? He appears to be unapologetic and aggressive. “I’m not done yet”, he told me over the phone. He’s referring to harassing his neighbors about “code violations.”

As for the dogs, both will survive after receiving medical care. Stay tuned.