2 Dogs Destroyed After Attacking Jogger

Two Great Danes that mauled a jogger Sunday were put to sleep at the request of their owner, the result of what animal-control officials described as a “freakish” incident.

Mary Kemp, 43, of Ojai was treated at Ojai Valley Hospital on Sunday afternoon for abrasions to her upper leg and arm.

The dogs, which were on leashes, attacked Kemp as she jogged along Valley Meadow Drive, a small residential street between Oak View and Ojai, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Edling. When Kemp tried to run away from the dogs, she fell into a creek ditch, Edling said, where they bit her several times.

The dogs’ owner, Oak View resident Virginia Pesola, could not control the animals, authorities said.

“It was just a freakish thing,” said Kathy Jenks, director of the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department. “It sounded like the dogs, for whatever reason, felt the owner was in jeopardy.”