Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Judge sets $40,000 bail for Las Vegas woman in dog-mauling case

Updated Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 | 3:28 p.m.

Jesse Vonstaden

Jesse Vonstaden

Bail was set at $40,000 for a 29-year-old single mother ahead of a March 11 preliminary hearing on felony charges after her four dogs mauled two neighbors, including a woman whose arms were nearly ripped off, authorities said Wednesday.

Jesse Vonstaden's defense attorney, Todd Leventhal, said outside court that Vonstaden feels terrible about the Friday attack, and she thinks someone opened a gate to her yard after a police raid earlier in the week at a home next door.

"This is not something where these dogs were trained to fight or anything like that," Leventhal told The Associated Press.

Las Vegas police said a fire at a neighboring home early Feb. 17 led to the discovery of marijuana plants, more than 40 pounds of packaged pot, a small amount of cocaine and several guns.

No arrests were made. But two men who were in the house were treated for minor injuries, and police said the investigation would be turned over to the district attorney for possible prosecution.

The mauling by the four dogs was severe. Skin and muscle was stripped from the arms of the 65-year-old woman, and she suffered deep leg and facial injuries and a broken left wrist, according to a police report. Doctors initially feared the woman would lose an arm and an eye. Doctors reported using more than 100 stitches to treat her, prosecutor Amy Ferreira said Wednesday.

A man who tried to use gardening tools and a baseball bat to stop the mauling suffered a severe hand injury from a dog bite, police said

A patrol officer shot and killed one of the dogs, and animal control officers impounded three others.

Vonstaden will plead not guilty to felony willful disregard for the safety of others and vicious dog charges, Leventhal said. She could face up to 16 years in prison if she is convicted.

Justice of the Peace Janiece Marshall said that if Vonstaden posts bond for release from jail, she'll have to serve house arrest and can't have dogs.

Vonstaden is a law office information technology employee with a 7-year-old daughter. Leventhal said she raised the dogs since they were puppies.

"These were rescue dogs," the attorney said. "She never abused these dogs."

Police said Vonstaden characterized the dogs as pit bulls when she received warnings about the dogs in November and January that she needed a permit to keep four pit bulls, and needed rabies and neutering records.

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