A woman whose dog was one of two who went over a cliff with a 58-year-old man says the incident--which prompted a rescue at Thursday--began when the man's unleashed dog rushed her and her pet.
Carmelita Haltom, whose dog fell from a ledge with Bill Smith and his 8-year-old Labrador, .
Both dogs and Smith were rescued with only minor injuries, Sheriff's Rescue Chief Mike Leum told Patch.
Alhambra local Carmelita Haltom left these :
"I was standing in the turnout of the trail because I saw this man with his unleashed 100 lb Lab coming down. So, I wrapped the 2 leashes of my dogs around my hand and moved as far off the trail as I could.
He comes down and says, "I don't have a leash on my dog and I don't even have a leash, is that gonna be OK with you?" I said, "No, it's not."
As he got closer, his dog decided to come up to my two and my 8 yr old female Lab/mix wasn't happy and they tangled. My hand was still wrapped in the leashes. As they pulled all together down the narrow trail, Bill tried to get them all apart. I let go because they almost pulled me over the edge. The 2 Labs rolled over the ledge and he went after his dog yelling, " I can't loose my dog!", as I watched my dog fall over the next ledge. I assumed she was dead."
Glendale Police Department did not immediately return calls or emails to Patch to confirm or deny if Smith's dog was off a leash.
"It was his fault. And after all was said and done, he never said thank you for staying with me. I’ve called the Glendale police trying to get information because I want him to get my veterinarian bills," Haltom told Patch in a phone interview.
Police allegedly told her that they do not have Smith's information, she said.
"How do you justify having 20 people there, two L.A. City Fire helicopters, even Air 5 and Glendale P.D. helicopters?" Haltom asked. “They’re telling me they have no information on him."
Haltom also said she spoke to two separate 911 operators who did not understand where Deukmejian Wilderness Park was, which delayed the rescue operations.
Her hand is sore from when the dogs pulled on her leashes, she said. Haltom's dog, Sheba, has a gash under her eye and is on antibiotics.
"She doesn’t appear to have any broken bones in the S-rays. She’s walking around," Haltom said.
Bill Smith could not be immediately reached to confirm if his dog was off the leash or other details of Haltom's account. We'll continue to follow up.
