Injured trail runner case highlights spike in off-leash dog issues in Summit County
Cody Jones/Summit Daily
Breckenridge resident and distance running phenom Alicia Vargo was in the middle of her summer trail-running season when an encounter on a Summit County trail left her bruised, battered, and injured.
Vargo — who attended Stanford University and set a collegiate record of 32 minutes, 19.97 seconds in the 10-kilometer run in 2004 — was enjoying a morning trail run on June 6 near Breckenridge’s Prospect Road when she came across an off-leash dog and its owner.
“I was running on a trail called One Step Over the Cabin that starts paralleling Prospect Road above Wellington,” she said. “I wanted to get off that trail, get on the dirt road, and get on another trail when I saw a car, a dog, and a young man with the dog.”
A seasoned-runner who has encountered numerous leashed and off-leash dogs throughout her running career, she approached the off-leash dog in front of her hesitantly. Not wanting to be jumped on by an overly-excited or aggressive dog, she slowed her run to a walk in order to give the dog owner time to gather and secure their dog before proceeding further in their direction.
“The dog and its owner saw me, and he didn’t do anything, so I assumed it was OK to proceed further,” she said. “I started running again, and the dog ran up to me.”
Like most dogs, Vargo said the dog started out by playfully jumping on her as she continued to run, but those playful bumps soon turned aggressive.
“He was biting at me and almost knocked me down a couple times,” she said. “It started to make me a little bit nervous of how it was escalating.”
Not wanting to be knocked over by the dog, she once again paused her run, grabbed the dog by its collar, pulled it back to the ground and asked the owner to get the dog from her. After watching the dog jump on the trail runner, the owner proceeded to take the dog from the hands of Vargo, but the run-in was far from over.
“I continued to run down Prospect, and I heard the owner yelling at the dog,” she said. “I turned around, and the dog was just all-out barreling towards me. I thought it was at least going to slow down to jump on me or bite, but it didn’t. It was just full-gas towards me.”
With little to no options, she crouched down to protect her kneecaps before the dog’s head crashed into her while the dog was in a full-out sprint.
“The force of the impact, somehow flipped me into the air,” she said. “I did this full flip and this weird barrel roll. I smashed my back down on this embedded boulder on the side of the road.”
Feeling like she may black out or vomit from the hard collision, she says the dog continued to jump on her while the owner continued to stand off in the distance, observing the ongoing situation.
The dog was eventually seized by the owner and put in the back of the nearby car while Vargo worked to evaluate her condition and exchange information with the owner. After information was properly shared, she attempted to get back down to her own car, but had to do so at a slow, walking pace because of a searing pain coming from her lower back.
Knowing something was off with her body because of a lingering tenderness around her kidneys, she then proceeded to go to urgent care in order to get evaluated for any injuries she may have sustained. The urgent care eventually sent her to the emergency department because of the degree of her injuries where it was determined that she had fractured her L3 and L4 vertebrae while also doing damage to surrounding soft tissue.
Fresh back from a trail running race in Spain, the accident and injuries ultimately put a nail in Vargo’s summer racing plans which included another Europe trip to France.
“It has honestly been a big blow because I worked really hard last summer to put myself in a position where I could do this race series,” she said. “The races are highly competitive, and I have been working hard to put myself in a position to chase after some dreams. It all unraveled with that one dog encounter.”
Vargo is not the only individual in Summit County to encounter a misbehaving dog while out recreating over the last few months. In fact, since the beginning of the year to Tuesday, June 25, Summit County Animal Control and Shelter has responded to 167 animal at-large calls — a 21% increase from the same span of dates in 2023 where animal control had 138 at-large calls.
Summit County Animal Control categorizes at-large calls as any call where they are responding to a dog that is more than 10-feet away from its owner or not under voice control. The calls don’t necessarily have to take place out on a trail but anywhere in Summit County.
Over the last few years, the number of at-large calls has only increased, with Animal Control responding to 297 calls throughout all of 2023 and a total of 924 since 2021 — for an average of 264 calls over the last three and half years.
“My encouragement to keep your animal safe, you safe from other animals, or your animal from causing issues with other people is to just keep them leashed,” Summit County Animal Control Supervisor Jesslyn McGill said. “Especially when we have so many people visiting the county. You never know who is going to be around the next corner on the trail.”
She says that even though dogs are often viewed as the best dogs ever by their owners, many dogs’ instincts are to chase when they are put in an environment with lots of activity and people.
“Keep in mind with how busy it is, there is a lot going for your dog to understand,” she said. “Be respectful of everyone. For everyone to use the trails and feel safe it is better to keep your dog under control.”
Vargo says that since the injuries occurred and the case was reported to Animal Control, that the young man and his family have been very agreeable in the weeks that have followed.
Even though she is a dog lover herself, Vargo believes something must be done in order to ensure that more people are not hurt by dogs when they are out exploring the many trails in Summit County.
“I love dogs; I grew up with animals and grew up in a ranching family,” she said. “I think it is cool when people can have animals that can enjoy trails in the mountains with them — but not at the expense of other people’s or animal’s safety. Everyone should be able to enjoy the trails without the fear of rogue dogs coming after them. I should be able to take my kids out on the trail without off-leash dogs ripping around that are aggressive or overly-playful.”
She knows that a solution to the situation is a tricky one but longs for a county-wide enforcement system that could prevent encounters like hers from ever occurring.
“I know a lot of other areas have adopted similar regulations, and I think that Summit County could use something like that,” she said. “I know a lot of people in the area where people have been bit or had really close calls. I am not trying to be critical, I am just trying to think pro-actively.”
Summit County law currently require dogs to be under immediate control, meaning the dog has to be within 10-feet and under voice control. Any dog that is not under voice control must be on a leash that is no longer than 6 feet in length.
If the dog is on Summit County’s recreational pathway system they are required to be on a leash at all times.
Vargo has steadily recovered from her condition through consistent physical therapist and doctor appointments. She is hoping to make a full recovery over the next several weeks so she can get back to running the trails she loves in Summit County.
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