Christian County dog owner convicted of assault but avoids prison in case of fatal mauling of an elderly bicyclist Werner Vogt in the Rogersville area in 2015 - Springfield News-Leader

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

A Christian County man accused of letting his boxer dogs run free before the pets allegedly mauled a passing bicyclist to death accepted a plea deal Thursday that will keep him out of prison.

Joseph Brink, 38, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to 2 years of unsupervised probation.

Brink was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony. This deal allowed Brink to plead to a lesser misdemeanor charge, and he will also be able to get the conviction off his record if he successfully completes probation.

Link: 

Christian County dog owner convicted of assault but avoids prison in case of fatal mauling of an elderly bicyclist Werner Vogt in the Rogersville area in 2015 - Springfield News-Leader

MoBikeFed comment: After Vogt was killed in 2017, authorities originally suspected coyotes as the cause of the attack. But cyclists in the Rogersville area told authorities that loose dogs in the area had attacked many cyclists, leading authorities to DNA test many dogs in the area.

By the time authorities matched DNA with two of Brink's dogs, the couple had given away two more dogs they owned at the time of the attack on Vogt to unsuspecting owners.

The Brinkers later reached a $300,000 settlement with the Vogt family over the death.

Dog attacks are a serious problem for cyclists, especially in the rural roads of Missouri, and we have been working with some dog attack victims and legislators for several years now to improve Missouri's state law on loose dogs.

How to deal with aggressive dogs on your ride, by Bicycling Magazine:

https://www.bicycling.com/training/a20043368/how-to-deal-with-aggressive...

Previously on MoBikeFed.org:

https://mobikefed.org/2015/12/rogersville-cyclist-dies-weeks-after-anima...

https://mobikefed.org/2017/09/dogs-kill-missouri-cyclist-werner-vogt-and...

https://mobikefed.org/2019/08/missouri-man-agrees-plea-deal-avoids-priso...