Verdict questioned in sheep-dog case

Investigators have not identified a dog that attacked a person last year on a trail near The Canyons, an attorney for a sheep rancher in the Snyderville Basin claims. Still, Basin resident Stephen A. Osguthorpe, 61, was found guilty Aug. 21 on two counts of allowing sheep dogs he was responsible for to injure a woman and dog in separate attacks in September 2008. Osguthorpe is well known for campaigning in 2004 for a seat on the Summit County Commission. His attorney said Osguthorpe plans to appeal the August convictions. On Sept. 14, 2008, Rick Whitty, who was bicycling with his unleashed dog, claimed his pet was attacked by a sheep dog. Naomi Doyle was bicycling near The Canyons on Sept. 19, 2008, when a sheep dog bit her buttocks, prosecutors say. "The Osguthorpes don't own any dogs," Osguthorpe attorney David Scofield said in a telephone interview. "They hire professional sheep herders who own highly trained sheep dogs." Osguthorpe was away from Summit County during both attacks last year, Scofield said. Scofield criticized Summit County Animal Control officers who claimed Osguthorpe admitted the dogs involved in the attacks were his. "Can you explain to me how a man who is in Delta, Utah, who hasn't witnessed the dog attack, who hasn't seen the dog, could possibly admit that it was his dog that was involved in the attack?" Scofield added. "Their assumption is so strong that it's Steve Osguthorpe, that they're in there testifying that he confessed that it's his dog. It's a joke." But sheep were present during both attacks, Summit County prosecutor Helen Strachan said...ParkRecord