Local News in Brief : City Animal Control Officer Injured on Arm by Doberman

A city animal control officer received severe injuries to her left arm Tuesday when she was attacked by a Doberman pinscher she was trying to catch in the Porter Ranch area of Northridge, authorities said.

Officer Annetta Reeff needed 27 stitches between her wrist and elbow after the 12:45 p.m. attack near Brasilia Drive and Baird Avenue, Lt. Linda Gordon of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation said.

Reeff got a call about noon from Porter Ranch residents who said the dog was loose and had bitten two people earlier in the day, Gordon said.

Reeff followed the dog to the home of its owner, Gordon said.

The dog attacked Reeff in the front yard, biting her repeatedly until she beat it away with an aluminum pipe, Gordon said.

Reeff, an animal control officer for less than a year, was treated at Granada Hills Community Hospital. She suffered 13 cuts that required stitches and nine puncture wounds, Gordon said.

“These sort of incidents happen all too often,” Gordon said, “but usually they’re not this bad.”

The owner of the 4-year-old dog, named Apollo, asked animal control authorities to take the dog away “because it was more trouble than it was worth,” Gordon said.

The dog will be quarantined for 10 days and probably will be destroyed, Gordon said.

The owner was not cited for allowing the dog to run free, she said.