A service dog bit two people last week at Denver International Airport.
The airport’s media team confirmed that an incident took place last week between an employee of American Airlines and a passenger with a service dog. Bella, a Belgian Malinois, bit the airline worker and a passenger waiting for a flight on the morning of April 26, said Denver Department of Public Health & Environment spokesperson Tammy Vigil.
The airline staff member was bit in the face, and the bystander was bit in the forearm, Vigil said.
The injuries are individually considered a level 4 out of 6 on Dr. Ian Dunbar’s Dog Bite Scale, but, because they combined into a multiple-bite incident, the ratings are escalated to a level 5 out of 6, Vigil said. A level 6 is reached if the victim dies.
According the dog bite scale, the final two levels mean “the dog is extremely dangerous.”
The responding Denver Animal Protection officer didn’t confirm whether the dog was an official service animal. “That said, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ‘service animals in training’ are afforded the same legal protections as fully-trained service animals and generally need to be considered the same in places like the airport and airlines,” Vigil said.
The dog is being held at Denver Animal Shelter on a bite quarantine for 10 days until May 6, Vigil added. She declined to provide the owner’s identity because of an ongoing investigation.
The Denver Police Department directed questions to Denver Animal Protection. The American Airlines media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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