A 39-year-old Portland man was cited and briefly jailed this past weekend after a Great Dane he was caring for was connected to a string of vicious attacks stretching back to early 2025, including one that left a woman bitten on the face, neck and hands and another that ended with a different dog ripped in half. Alika Kelekele was arrested on August 8 and charged with misdemeanor maintaining a dangerous dog, then released on his own recognizance, with an arraignment scheduled for Tuesday.
According to court documents cited by KATU, the dog, named Shadow, is a Great Dane that animal control officers had already identified as a Level 4 dangerous dog — the highest potentially dangerous classification under Multnomah County Code Chapter 13, which requires strict containment and muzzling and, in Shadow's case, mandated the dog be kept entirely out of the county, according to Multnomah County Animal Services rules. A victim identified Kelekele as being with Shadow, court documents state, and an apartment manager said in March that Kelekele owned the dog, though Kelekele has told investigators Shadow still belonged to Serena Starner.
A Pattern of Attacks Dating to Early 2025
Court documents reviewed by KATU indicate the attacks tied to Shadow began in 2025. In February 2026, a woman and her dog were attacked by a Great Dane, with the woman bitten on the face, neck and hands; animal services believed Shadow was involved in that incident. Kelekele denied knowing anything about the February attack, according to court documents, and a victim reported in March that Shadow was suspected of living at 4975 SE Division St.
The most severe incident came on July 11, when a Great Dane lunged from a gold van and attacked another woman's dog, which was ripped in half and later euthanized. Police learned Shadow was involved in that July 11 attack, and animal control officers went on to serve Kelekele with a notice of infraction. Court records describe Shadow displaying aggressive behavior and attacking other dogs, and note that Kelekele had tied Shadow inside the van and left its door open so the animal could get air.
Evading Animal Control and a Prior Conviction
Kelekele evaded animal control officers in early August before his arrest, according to the court documents referenced by KATU. Records also show he has a 2006 conviction for second-degree theft out of Washington County. He was in the process of being evicted as of March, per the same documents. Alika Kelekele told investigators he sometimes watched Shadow for Serena Starner, an account that has not been contradicted in the case record so far.
Two other people connected to the case — Daniel Ward and Serena Starner — received a combined three notices of infraction, prosecutors say, but neither has been charged in the case. It remains unclear from available records whether Shadow has been located and removed by officials since the July attack; the seed reporting contains no indication that the dog has been taken into custody.
What Oregon Law Allows if Kelekele Is Convicted
Under Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 609.098 and ORS 609.990, maintaining a dangerous dog is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in jail, a penalty that escalates to a Class C felony only if an attack causes a human death, according to the Oregon State Legislature. If Kelekele is convicted, ORS 609.990(5) requires the presiding judge to order Shadow humanely euthanized, removing judicial discretion once a conviction is entered. Separately, ORS 609.115 makes the keeper of a dog already classified as potentially dangerous strictly liable for medical costs and property damage from any later attack, meaning victims would not need to prove negligence in civil court.
Multnomah County's own rules add another layer of consequence: an owner must maintain full compliance with every safety restriction for two consecutive years before even applying to have a Level 4 designation lifted, according to Multnomah County Animal Services. County code also holds that responsibility for an animal's behavior falls on whoever is acting as its keeper at the time, regardless of who is registered as the legal owner — a distinction that helps explain why Kelekele faces charges even as he maintains Shadow belonged to Starner. Oregon courts have upheld that framework before: in the 2017 case Jimenez v. Multnomah County, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the county's authority to suspend ownership rights and mandate strict enclosures when animals at large attack other pets, according to records reviewed by FindLaw.
Part of a Wider Pattern in the County
The case adds to a run of dangerous-dog investigations across the county this year. Hoodline reported on August 3 that a loose husky mix bit three people in Southwest Portland, prompting its own animal-services probe, and in March, Portland police shot a rampaging family dog in Southeast Portland after a multi-victim attack. Multnomah County Animal Services field officers responded to 7,728 urgent community safety calls in fiscal year 2024 alone, covering bite investigations, loose aggressive animals and welfare checks, according to the agency's annual report. A 2024 county audit also confirmed that Animal Services adopted stricter placement policies in December 2023 requiring dogs with severe or repeated bite histories to be euthanized rather than re-homed.
Whether prosecutors will ultimately seek the mandatory euthanasia outcome under ORS 609.990(5) depends on the arraignment set for Tuesday and whatever unfolds in the case afterward. For now, key questions remain open, including whether county animal control has located and impounded Shadow, and whether the dog's registered owner will face any separate infraction beyond the notices already issued to Ward and Starner.
