PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Nearly a month after their dog was fatally mauled by another, Erin Work and Casey Rauhut say they have just as few answers as the day it happened.
Work had been doing everything right with her 2-year-old mini-golden labradoodle Poppy as she walked the dog near Chippewa School just after 4 p.m. on Sept. 15. Poppy was on a 6-foot leash and restrained in a harness when Work spotted the two loose pit bulls inside a gated playground near South Austin and West 124th Street.
Work didn't panic—not at first.
"As I turn the corner, I look up and saw two loose dogs in playground area," Work said. "I was trying to remain calm, thinking they were just really excited to see us."
But calm turned to chaos, as one of the dogs lunged at Poppy.
"The dog got right into Poppy's face, immediately started attacking her," Work said. "Went right for her neck."
Work scooped Poppy up into her arms, the dog then jumping at her and scratching her torso. She dropped her phone, only picking it up afterward and capturing a photo of the dog as it walked away after the attack.
Poppy was "mutilated and bloody," Rauhut said, and in the aftermath a neighbor drove his truck onto a nearby lawn, yelling for Work to get in. He took her home, where she scrambled to get Poppy into her own car and rushed to a vet. She called Rauhut urgently. Doorbell camera video of the call is gut-wrenching, as Work's panicked voice tries to tell him what happened. It was likely impossible to understand her, she said, until she said, "Poppy's dead."
"Horrible phone call for me to receive," Rauhut said. "I was on the phone with her from when she called, until we got to the animal hospital."
Despite frenzied efforts by onlookers to help Poppy, she died from her injuries.
"I already knew she was dead," Work said. "Within minutes, they told us she was gone."
Their story received media coverage in the days immediately following the attack, as the couple spoke out and urged authorities to look into the dogs and their owners. Now, they say little has been done and they want to do what they can to keep other people—and their pets—safe.
"Poppy's gone—we can't bring her back," Work said. "But what we can do is fight for the families and kids around us, so it doesn't happen again."
With their vibrant, sweet dog gone and her cremated remains returned to them, Work and Rauhut revisit the initial moments and days after the attack.
Rauhut called 911 from the animal clinic that day, and sought out police to file a report. They contacted Cook County Animal Control, who they say declined to take the dog from its home for any quarantine period and rabies observation. WGN reported that county officials said the dog was quarantined inside its home.
"They never took the dog," Work said. "They asked if the owner wanted to turn over the dogs, the owner said no. The dogs disappeared for a weekend, but no one knows where they went."
"It's been a struggle for us at every turn, to get answers," Rauhut interjected.
The dogs had slipped through their owner's broken fence, Rauhut said, but later on the same day of the attack, they had at least appeared contained again behind the fence, the couple said.
Cook County Animal Control is conducting a dangerous dog investigation, the couple said, but that seemed to come only after the media coverage.
"Now they're doing a dangerous dog investigation—to determine whether or not the dog is dangerous—and should it get a strike from this," Rauhut said. "What is there to investigate?"
They also hit walls in trying to verify the dog's rabies vaccination status—it took 14 days to receive a response. They sought proof of vaccination: paperwork and tags.
"Why was that not furnished?" Rauhut said.
"Animal control only reached out because it got all over the news," Work said. "In that conversation—before any of this— we had talked to animal control and had a report made. They said they can't go and take the dog away because it didn't have any reported instances in the past. The dog gets a second and third chance.
"Why would you give this dog another chance to do it again? Will the fence be broken again, and the dog get out? It doesn't make any sense."
Work said the owner has placed a "Beware of Dog"sign on the fence that abuts the playground. Work said the incident also led to kids' limited access to the playground at recess. Cook County Sheriff's police said they increased patrols in the area, as well.
"I think what gets us the most is our dog got mauled for no reason—killed," Rauhut said. "She loved kids, loved other dogs. And this guy just gets to keep his dog, like it's ok."
The owner has appeared dismissive about the incident, they say, and though they have encountered him, he has not acknowledged them.
"They knew what happened—they didn't even come over to say sorry," Work said. "No remorse."
The owner received a citation for an off-leash dog violation, Rauhut said. He fears what might have happened if it had been a young child walking past that day.
"If it was a young kid walking their dog that day, that would have been 10 times worse," he said. "Luckily, Erin was able to be OK."
The couple's 6-year-old daughter was deeply bonded with Poppy and is "absolutely devastated."
"She said I should have never taken her on a walk that day," Work said. "My daughter was upset with me because I took our dog for a walk. She thought that I should have been able to protect her."
They're disappointed that the dog's owner doesn't seem affected by the incident deeply felt by their family.
"I'm really sad that the guy doesn't have any decency to say sorry," Work said. "I can't believe we have people like that living in the neighborhood. He doesn't care that it happened to our dog, or that it could happen to other dogs, or a child at the school."
Weeks later, the weight of it all hasn't lifted for the couple.
"I feel so awful," Work said. "I feel guilty that I wasn't able to save Poppy. She didn't even fight back—she ran in fear."
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