The owner of two Old English bulldogs that attacked two girls in the summer will be able to keep her dogs as long as she leaves St. Joseph city limits.

Kelli Veale, 42, was charged with violating leash and animal neglect laws in St. Joseph Municipal Court on Wednesday. The city alleges her bulldogs ran from her yard Aug. 17 and attacked two sisters as they walked on the sidewalk.

Prosecutor Rebecca Spencer said the injuries to the girls, 9 and 11, were some of the worst she’s seen. She asked that the dogs be euthanized. However, Ms. Veale’s attorney, Tom McBride, successfully argued against killing the bulldogs.

Municipal Judge John Boeh ruled Ms. Veale can keep her dogs as long as they never are in St. Joseph again. He warned her that if he ever finds them back in town, he will order the animals to be immediately destroyed.

The animals have been boarded at St. Joseph Animal Control and Rescue since the attack. The investigating animal control officer deemed the dogs “vicious,” and the center made a recommendation to euthanize the animals.

Ms. Veale was able to avert the order through Wednesday’s court action. She picked up her bulldogs the same day.

At her home on Thursday, she declined to comment to the News-Press.

Ms. Veale was ordered to pay about $350 in fines and court costs on a leash law violation, registration violation and animal neglect. The last charge stemmed from not controlling the dogs as the girls walked near Hall Elementary School.

She also paid about $609 in impound fees to Animal Control and Rescue. Director Rick Smith said the female dog, Mercedez, began showing aggressive tendencies the first day she was brought in.

The behavior of Mercedez, 2, and Brutus, 1, is uncharacteristic for their breed, he said.

“The majority of English bulldogs are pretty laid back, family pets,” he said.

Ms. Spencer said allowing Ms. Veale to move the dogs to a rural area “potentially puts the problem on somebody else.”

The girls in the attack received 32 stitches between them for bites. They live two blocks away from Ms. Veale’s home, 1522 S. 25th St.

Ahmad Safi can be reached

at ahmadsafi@npgco.com.