MOST DOG OWNERS SUPPORT MURDER VERDICT IN MAULING.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

ENCINO - Dog lovers strolling with their pooches Thursday generally supported the convictions of a San Francisco couple whose two huge dogs mauled a neighbor to death.

There were plenty of angry remarks directed at Marjorie Knoller, 46, found guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter, and her husband Robert Noel, 60, found guilty of manslaughter. Noel wasn't present when the couple's two presa canario dogs got away from Knoller and attacked and killed 33-year-old Diane Whipple in the hallway outside their apartments.

Only a few people said the second degree murder conviction against Knoller was too severe.

``It was perfect,'' said Robert Sasser of Northridge, as he watched his schipperke Malcolm and cocker spaniel Nike play with a much larger boxer at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park. ``They had two vicious killer dogs. They should never have had them.''

Gail McKenzie, who brings her dalmatians Molly, Baxter and Crystal from Brentwood to romp in the park where aggressive dogs are banned, said she was glad the Los Angeles jury found Knoller guilty of murder - unprecedented for such a case in California.

``Those were not real dogs, they were killing machines,'' McKenzie said. ``That was a horrible way for that woman to die.''

Most of those enjoying the warm afternoon, secure in the enclosed park, rejected the defense's arguments that the couple's 120-pound dogs, Bane and Hera, were ``loving, docile'' animals that unexpectedly snapped.

``A dog doesn't become a killer in a vacuum,'' said Angela Woodcock of West Hills, out with her dog Jasmine. ``There are always signs. A dog doesn't snap out of nowhere.''

But a couple of owners disagreed, saying a manslaughter conviction alone would have been more appropriate for Knoller, given the unpredictability of animals.

``I think it sucks, because it wasn't proved the lady's dogs were vicious'' before the attack, said Michael Anello of Encino, who was watching his Rottweiler pup Maximus frolic with an older dog. ``She took the dogs everywhere she went.''

Anello said owners have to know and control their dogs, noting that his dog doesn't like the gardener, so gets locked up when the man arrives.

Lisette Sloves, a Benedict Canyon resident out with her 11-year-old German shepherd Beau, said she thought the second degree murder verdict ``a little stiff'' because Knoller could get 15 years to life in prison.

``Maybe she should have gotten a few years. She didn't mean to do it. It was probably an accident. It's not like she said `sic 'em.'''

Her husband, Harold Sloves, disagreed, saying Knoller and Noel showed no remorse.

``How would you like to be walking down the street and to get chewed on?''

For those who use the park - where following the rules and exercising responsibility is the key to keeping people and animals safe and the environment fun - Knoller and Noel represented the antithesis of what dog ownership is all about.

``These were educated people,'' Malcolm Dipperstein of Reseda said of the couple, both lawyers, as his mixed-breed dog Buddy slept nearby in the shade. ``They're supposed to know right from wrong.''

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Most pet owners at the dog park in Reseda agreed with the jury's verdict in a San Francisco dog mauling.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer