PINE BLUFF -- The owner of three dogs that attacked a man in August, resulting in serious injury to the man's leg, pleaded guilty to violating a Jefferson County animal control ordinance.
Henry Christian, 39, entered the plea through his public defender in Jefferson County District Court on Tuesday, said case coordinator Casey Maynard.
Christian was fined $800 and placed on a year of unsupervised probation.
District Judge Kim Bridgforth also ordered Christian back in court Feb. 13 for a hearing to determine how much he will pay in restitution to John Ray Taylor, 78, Maynard said.
Police said Taylor was attacked by three pit bull terriers at his home at 10010 Conifer Trail south of Pine Bluff on Aug. 23. Taylor had stepped onto his porch and the dogs "immediately charged him ... where they began to maul on his limbs," sheriff's office spokesman Lafayette Woods Jr. said shortly after the attack.
A Jefferson County sheriff deputy's report indicated Taylor called his son Kevin Taylor, who lives near John Taylor's home. Kevin Taylor tried to get the dogs away from his father and eventually shot two of the dogs. The third dog fled, the report said.
Police said the dogs belonged to Christian, who also lives on Conifer Trail.
Taylor was treated at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff and then taken to a Little Rock hospital.
Henry was cited under Jefferson County's Vicious Animal Ordinance 2015-58, which established strict liability for the owner of dogs. The maximum penalty of the ordinance, set by the Jefferson County Quorum Court in September 2015, is a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.
Maynard said Henry will be ordered to pay Taylor's medical bills once he receives them.
Henry is also required to contact the sheriff's office if the pit bull terrier that fled is spotted, she said.
State Desk on 12/09/2016