Broke hand, dislocated knee in accident
The work Anne Schexnaydre had put in for the last few years was paying off. She and her husband had lost a combined 200 pounds since beginning a training and diet regimen focused on improving their health.
The Norco mom had finished her first triathlon five days earlier and was training for her next triathlon by biking on Honeysuckle Street in Norco with a friend on April 20.
The trek would have disastrous consequences.
Schexnaydre said she had taken the two-mile path numerous times and that sometimes a dog would chase her along, but on this day she saw the dog’s owner on the front porch and thought her passage would be safe.
“This little dog that is always out there. It’s a mini-doberman and he’s always out and he terrorizes you and he chases you and you just kind of outrun him,” Schexnaydre said. “He came running at me out of the yard. I was shocked [the owner] didn’t call him. So I just started pedaling faster to try and outrun him.”
Schexnaydre said the dog chased her front wheel for a moment before crossing directly in front of her causing her to run over it and fall face first into the pavement. She said the impact resulted in her numerous injuries including a broken hand, a dislocated knee, a concussion, jammed wrist and shoulders and numerous abrasions and contusions. Schexnaydre said she had to undergo surgery to insert pins into the broken hand last week.
The dog survived the incident.
A stay-at-home mother, Schexnaydre said she is now unable to do simple tasks for herself much less care for her children.
“My biggest concern is that we have twins. They are 11 years old and are severely mentally retarded,” Schexnaydre said. “They are at a 2-year-old level. They need to have everything done for them.”
She said between the help offered by friends and extra caregiver support provided by the Arc of St. Charles her family has been making it, but it would have been better had the dog’s owner obeyed parish leash laws.
St. Charles Parish Animal Control Director Angie Robert said dogs are never allowed out in public without a leash.
“There are no exceptions. You can’t walk your dog without a leash,” Robert said. “You cannot have your dog run alongside of you and use voice command. You cannot do anything like that. You must have your dog contained.”
Robert said her office cannot issue a citation, but can only recommend a citation be issued by the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. Robert said the law is also difficult to enforce since an officer must witness the dog running around without a leash.
Schexnaydre says that a sheriff’s deputy wanted to warn the dog’s owner when he responded to the scene after she called the next morning. Schexnaydre said an incident report was written only after she insisted.
“I wanted it documented because I wanted the Humane Society to know,” Schexnaydre said. “I guess the owner needs to realize when you have any dog, even a mini-doberman pinscher, you need to keep it on a leash. There are a ton of kids in that neighborhood. I’m glad it happened to me and not one of the children.”
Capt. Pat Yoes, Public Information Officer for the St, Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, said a citation issued to the dog owner should result in a fine.
Schexnaydre said she was lucky that she has good health insurance, but that the out-of-pocket costs were still more than she expected. However, she does not plan on pursuing legal action.
“I’ve never sued anybody in my life. That is not my nature,” she said.
Schexnaydre said the only thing she wants is for people to be more conscientious of parish leash laws, especially since children are going to be out of school for the summer.
“It’s a good time for a reminder of the consequences,” she said.
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