The Arizona Republic | 12 News , Breaking News Team Thu Dec 5, 2013 10:34 PM
Heidi Diedrich saved her dog JoJo’s life when she adopted the 2-year-old pit bull from a county shelter in March.
Eight months later, JoJo tried returning the favor when the two were attacked by a pack of javelina during an early morning stroll Thanksgiving Day in a park near Diedrich’s Scottsdale Ranch condo, in the area of 96th Street and Via Linda.
“We went out at 6 in the morning,” she said. “I didn’t really think twice about it. I’ve taken him out there (before).”
Diedrich said it was still dark outside and with few lights around the property, the park was pitch black.
“All of a sudden I just hear hooves behind me,” she said.
Diedrich, who said she weighs about 100 pounds, said she then was hit hard by the charging animals and thrown to the ground.
“I couldn’t see anything,” she said. “I just know I kicked something.”
It turned out that the javelinas were more interested in JoJo than they were Diedrich. She estimated there were up to five javelinas.
“He wriggled out of his collar, which the leash was attached to and they took off,” she said. “They were after him probably, not me. But he was protecting me.”
The sounds of the fighting and yelping was horrible, she said.
“I’m screaming and crying, laying on the ground in the dark,” she said. “He finally comes running back.
“I saw this gaping hole all bloody. I almost passed out.”
The injuries were serious. When Diedrich got JoJo to the vet, they found he had been mauled with about 10 cuts and gore wounds from the animals’ tusks.
Steven Thomasson, JoJo’s vet at the Cochise Animals Hospital at Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road, said it took 50 to 60 sutures to stitch the animal’s wounds closed.
Although JoJo’s stomach was exposed due to a deep slash across his abdomen, no organs or arteries were punctured, Thomasson said.
“He’s a pretty muscular dog, so he had a lot of body mass to help protect his internal organs,” he said. “I think if he had been a smaller or thinner dog, he might not have fared so well.”
Thomasson expects JoJo to make a full recovery.
“As long as we continue to not have any infection, I think he’ll pretty much be back to normal in 10 days to two weeks,” he said.
Jim Paxon, a spokesman with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said javelinas have incisors that are literally as sharp as razors.
Attacks are rare because the animals will try to avoid pets and humans, he said.
“They’re timid,” he said. “If you make a lot of noise they typically will run off.”
He said only a handful of encounters have occurred in the Valley this year that were similar in circumstances. In all those cases, the animals found nearby food sources and had lost their fear of humans.
He said Diedrich and JoJo were likely attacked because the javelinas felt threatened.
“They might have been running from something else and already ... felt threatened,” he said. “But when they came in contact with the lady and her dog, they were reacting to a perceived threat and they were acting like wild animals.”
He advised residents living in rural areas or along greenbelts, parks or golf courses to limit available food such as garbage, dog food and even the seeds in bird feeders.
Anyone who encounters a javelina should try to get away from them. If that’s not possible, “throw rocks (or) holler and jump.”
If being chased, Paxon said, “don’t run from them, run perpendicular. Climb a tree or a fence, get out of their way.”
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