The owner of two pit bulls, one of which bit a Scarborough woman in July, pleaded not guilty to two counts of keeping a dangerous dog at an arraignment in Portland District Court Friday.
Cheryl Dill’s trial is scheduled for Nov. 6 at 10:30 a.m.
On July 14, Joann Adams received 17 stitches in her leg after she was bitten by one of two pit bulls that charged out of her neighbors Randy and Cheryl Dill’s yard as she was passing by. Both dogs were overdue for rabies shots.
Adams and her husband, Scott, said Friday they were shocked that Dill did not plead guilty to the charge.
“Obviously, she’d been bitten by the dog,” Scott Adams said.
Though the wound from the bite has healed, Joann Adams said she still thinks about the incident every day.
“I just want to put this behind me,” she said, which is why she was hoping Dill would plead guilty at the arraignment and receive a punishment.
“Now it’s going to build up until November,” Adams said.
Scott Adams said he thinks there may be an upside to having the case go to trial.
“I’m glad Joann will be able to say her piece,” he said.
Ultimately, the Adamses would like to see the dogs euthanized.
“I think it’s the right thing,” Scott Adams said. “This was an accident waiting to happen. It could easily, easily happen again.”
Dill said she would not euthanize her dogs, Roxie and Jade, two brown pit bull sisters, without a fight. Though it has not been determined which one bit Adams, the Dills don’t deny that it happened.
“They’re 9 years old, and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” she said.
Dill believes Adams could have been the same woman she saw throwing rocks at her dogs not long before Adams was bitten, which is why she thinks the dogs ran after her.
“I can’t say it was for sure her, but I can’t say it wasn’t, either,” Dill said.
Adams said she would never throw rocks at a dog.
Dill said she feels as though her privacy has been invaded since Adams was bitten. She frequently sees people driving slowly by her house, looking in.
“I’ll either wave or put my finger on my nose, to say they’re being nosy,” said Dill. “You would think I killed somebody or something.”
According to Dill, both dogs have been updated on their shots. She has kept them in the back of her house and brings them in and out on a leash. She said she has not yet registered the dogs with the town and doesn’t plan on doing so until the trial is over.
“I just want to make sure they’re not going to make me put them down,” she said.
Pit bull owner seeks trial on charges
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