DENVER - A dog owner got creative after her German Shepherd was attacked by another dog outside a Denver motel.
The woman says the dog came out of nowhere and bit a chunk out of Jake, her 100-pound German Shepherd, leaving him with serious injuries.
The attack happened outside the Best Inn near Interstate 70 and Quebec Street in Denver on Monday around 8:45 p.m.
"He's been a really good sport about the whole thing," Michele Byers, Jake's owner, said.
Jake has a painful reminder in his rear-end of what happened outside the Best Inn.
"He's really torn up," Byers said.
Byers and Jake were out for a stroll when she says two dogs showed up out of nowhere and one of them got aggressive.
"We had no idea this dog was sneaking up behind him, and so when it took a chunk out of him we were both just surprised," Byers said.
Byers threw pieces of asphalt at the dog attacking Jake, both eventually took off.
After a $750 veterinarian bill, Byers was told her 11-year-old dog may not survive because the area of the bite was so prone to infection.
The other dogs had collars on them, so Byers decided to find the owner by using a little creativity.
"I placed a little ad on Craigslist stating that I had found a shepherd and a tan-mixed breed," Byers said.
Shortly after the posting, she got a call.
"Hi Michele, my name is Jim, I lost a couple dogs in the area you posted," said the voicemail Byers received and shared with 9NEWS.
The phone number belongs to a man named Jim Randolph, who owns Top Dog Protection, a local guard dog company.
"He described them to a 'T' down to their choke collars, so I knew those were definitely the dogs," Byers said.
Randolph told Byers the dogs escaped from a medical marijuana dispensary they were supposed to be guarding near I-70 and Ivy Street, not far from the motel.
It's unknown how the dogs escaped.
The warning sign on the front of the fence where the dogs are kept has the phone number of Top Dog Protection on it.
The owner of the dispensary says Randolph is a contractor who supplies the guard dogs to protect his dispensary.
9NEWS visited Top Dog Protection in Broomfield and the home where Randolph lives but no one was there. We did notice at least a dozen large breed dogs housed in an outdoor kennel on the property.
Byers is upset the dog that attacked Jake was able to get loose.
"No one should own dogs like this, and if they do, they've got to make sure there's no possible way for them to get out," Byers said.
After Randolph found out 9NEWS was investigating, he called Byers and said he'd be willing to pay for the medical bills.
Randolph did not return our calls for comment, but he did tell Byers animal control picked up both of his dogs, which are once again in his possession.
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