The three dogs that fatally mauled a man in the Juniper Ridge homeless encampment in July will be euthanized, the Deschutes County Dog Control Board decided in a public meeting Tuesday.

The unanimous decision for the dogs owned by Jessica McCleery — who pleaded guilty in December to criminally negligent homicide and maintaining a dangerous dog — came during a meeting that lasted for roughly 10 minutes.

The board generally handles cases where loose dogs attack or kill livestock. Often, they provide recommendations, such as confining dogs with fences. They seldom order euthanasia, except in rare circumstances when a dog shows a pattern for attacking animals.

Sandy Storrie, a dog board member, said she’d never seen a case like the one she heard Tuesday.

“This is very unusual,” Storrie, a retired veterinary technician, said after the meeting. She added, “I’m really really sad, and I feel for the family of this gentlemen. This should not have happened.”

During the meeting, no members of the public provided comment about the decision for the three pit-bull/bull-mastiff mix dogs, named DJ, Littlez, and Precious.

“It was inevitable given the facts in a case,” Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told The Bulletin after the meeting. “There was no way that an animal shelter could adopt those dogs out to anyone, given they had killed a human being.”

Oregon law states that if a person is convicted of owning a dog that kills someone, then “the court shall order the dangerous dog killed in a humane manner.”

Dogs in Oregon are euthanized using of sodium pentobarbital.

Bend dog-mauling death: Dog owner sentenced

Bend dog-mauling death: Dog owner sentenced

The board found that “the three dogs were all actively involved in the attack/mauling death” of Joseph Taylor Keeton, a 56-year-old Bend man who was living in the Juniper Ridge homeless encampment where he was attacked.

Authorities cannot say precisely when Keeton was attacked by the dogs — it was either late July 18 or in the first hour of July 19. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched at 1:15 a.m. Keeton was taken to St. Charles Bend, where he died July 19.

In court, McCleery, who also lived in the Juniper Ridge camp, admitted to leaving her three dogs unattended and unleashed on the night of the attack, despite knowing they had attacked other people and killed animals. She called 911 and tried to save Keeton as police responded.

Dogs in fatal attack at Juniper Ridge had bitten others

Dogs in fatal attack at Juniper Ridge had bitten others

McCleery was sentenced to three years in prison. By pleading guilty, she gave up the right to own her three dogs and will be banned from owning dogs for five years, Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Rosalie Beaumont said during the meeting Tuesday.

“She should not have the right to own another dog,” said Storrie, who added: “I just don’t think it’s right for people to have animals that they can’t keep under control.”

Storrie said her decision Tuesday wasn’t difficult, noting that she had reviewed law enforcement records indicating the dogs each had evidence of Keeton’s DNA. She was struck by the dog’s pattern of attacks. Their bites have put at least three people in the hospital, prosecutors said in court.

“That’s one too many times, and now somebody’s paid with their life,” Storrie said. “There’s no excuse for it … The person paid and now the dogs have to pay.”

The county has been footing the bill to keep the dogs at BrightSide Animal Center in Redmond since the attack, Deschutes County Legal Counsel David Doyle said during Tuesday’s meeting.

“The bill to taxpayers will stop accruing at this point,” Doyle said after the board’s decision.

Gunnels said BrightSide Animal Center can proceed with the euthanization when the signed order from the dog board is handed over.

A call to BrightSide Animal Center was not returned Tuesday afternoon.