Two dogs died and an Oak Creek woman was injured in an attack by four German shepherds

“I call them killers because they are.”

That was the sentiment shared by Jill Barbian, an Oak Creek resident, after four German shepherds attacked her and two small dogs she was walking on Nov. 30. Both small dogs died.

The dogs were owned by an elderly woman battling cancer. “Those dogs were her whole life,” Barbian said.

Barbian was walking near the Lake Forest Apartments off South Chicago Road, and she saw a van across the street in Kickers Creek Park she’d seen many times before, owned by a man who owns multiple German shepherds.

“He parks around wherever he can, any public area he can get away with it for a while,” she said.

Barbian said police told her they know who the man is and have dealt with and cited him before. However, since he is apparently homeless, living in his van with his dogs, it’s difficult for authorities to keep up with him.

Barbian said the attack happened suddenly.

“I don’t know what happened, but in a split second the dogs were on me,” she said. “I was just screaming. I fought and I screamed for somebody to help me.”

The four larger dogs attacked the two dogs Barbian was walking ― a Chihuahua named Linda and a terrier named Sophie. The owner of the four attacking dogs, a man Barbian described as in his 30s with long hair, came over and wrapped his legs around one of the larger German shepherds. She said he was also yelling at her to stop screaming and pick up her dogs.

“He was directing me like it was my fault,” Barbian said.

She was trying to pry the small dogs from the mouths of the shepherds, receiving puncture wounds in both hands in the process. Eventually the dogs stopped their attack and they, along with their owner, ran back across the street, got into their vehicle and drove away.

“He didn’t know who was dead, he didn’t know if I was hurt, he just went on his merry way and nobody’s seen him since,” Barbian said.

The encounter lasted less than a minute, Barbian estimates, but “it seemed like forever.”

Linda, sadly, “died right on the grass,” she said.

“The little terrier still had her eyes open, so I grabbed her, and I ran and I just said, ‘help, help, somebody help me,’” Barbian recounted. “I’d lost my shoes there and my clothes were covered in blood.”

Soon sirens sounded as someone had called 911. First responders wrapped Barbian’s bleeding hands, but she insisted she had to get Sophie to a vet immediately before receiving further care herself.

Her sister, who lives nearby, drove Barbian and the terrier to Blue Pearl Pet Hospital, 9472 S. 27th St. in Oak Creek.

Formerly a 24-hour clinic, when they arrived, Barbian discovered it was now only open until 8 p.m. Luckily, they arrived in time and Sophie was seen.

An hour and a half later, with a bill of $4,500, Sophie was sent home which surprised Barbian, who was eventually taken to the emergency room at Ascension Franklin Hospital to treat her hands.

Sophie had surgery the next day but unfortunately died soon after due to the extent of her injuries.

A GoFundMe was set up to help pay for the dog's medical bills. As of Dec. 5 it sits just shy of $4,000 with a $5,500 goal.

Barbian needs to go through a 10-day rabies injection series. While getting a shot in each of her dozen puncture wounds four times hurts, it’s another pain that seems to be Barbian’s focus.

“I failed those dogs, and I failed Nelsey terribly,” she said, referring to the owner of the two dogs.

“She doesn’t want to fight her cancer now, she’s just sitting grieving,” Barbian said.

Barbian is a home caregiver who works with seniors and Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. However, she recently started cutting back on work and focusing on animals and helping elderly owners care for their pets.

After this encounter, however, she’s rethinking if she’ll keep walking dogs.

“I’m scared to death,” she said.

She’s even rethinking getting a dog of her own, which she planned to do in summer.

“The loss is so tremendous, I just don’t even know,” Barbian said.

Other encounters with the same man

This was not Barbian's first encounter with this man. She confronted him last summer when she saw the dogs left alone in the van for a long period during a hot day.

“I saw three dogs with their heads out the window with a vicious, vicious growl,” she said.

She said the owner told her the dogs had food and water inside and he’d only been gone a short time.

Barbian said she is aware of at least two other encounters similar to hers with the same man in the same general area of Oak Creek and in South Milwaukee.

Oak Creek Police Captain Dave Ashenhurst said the department has had “numerous contacts with the dog owner from the Nov. 30 attack incident.” The reports ranged from animal welfare incidents, suspicious activity to disabled vehicles and similar incidents, he said.

“Officers have made a concerted effort to locate the pet owner but have been unsuccessful,” Ashenhurst said.

The Oak Creek Police Department has requested the public’s assistance in locating the man and his vehicle ― a white 2011 Mazda CX-7 with Wisconsin registration AGX-3478. If the vehicle is spotted, police can be contacted at 414-762-8200 and reference incident 23-025978.

Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on X @Redheadliner.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oak Creek woman injured, two dogs killed in dog attack