Two dogs along the Wasatch Front have been sprayed in the face with orange paint this spring, and apparently, the spraying was deliberate, the Humane Society of Utah said Thursday.

Both dogs were in fenced yards, according to their owners. The most recent instance was Monday, when a Labrador-and-pit-bull mix named Sammy was hit in the eyes, said her owner, Chris Grange of Sandy. Two months ago, Logan, a 1-year-old Irish wolfhound owned by Ivan and Karolynn Christiansen, of Centerville, was also sprayed in the face.

Logan was only sprayed on the fur between his eyes, but Sammy wasn't so lucky. Grange said he came home Monday to find his dog with orange paint in her eyes and on her face, chest and leg. Similar orange paint marked the ground to the side of Grange's home, where a utility-locator company had placed orange flags to show a buried cable-television line.

Grange said a worker had sprayed his fence four times, hitting Sammy. "The veterinarian said the spray paint had burned the dog's eyes," Grange said.

Twice a day, Grange administers prescription drops that cost $95 to Sammy's red, irritated eyes. When Grange contacted the company, Stake Center Locating, he felt like the manager he spoke with tried to justify why the employee sprayed Sammy. "He acted like it was no big deal," Grange said.

Nina Cleere, a company spokeswoman, said the employee who sprayed the dog was afraid because the dog was trying to come over the fence. "We would in no way encourage anybody to hurt a dog," she said.

Gene Baierschmidt, the Humane Society's executive director, said even if dogs are barking when strangers come into their territory, "shooting them with a can of spray paint is not an acceptable response to the situation."

The society's chief Investigator, John Paul Fox, contacted the companies reported to have been working in the Centerville area when the Christiansens' dog was sprayed, but none would admit that their employees had sprayed any animals.

Baierschmidt wants the companies to establish an employee-training course and to notify communities before spraying will take place, so that owners can keep their pets indoors.

"If dogs are legitimately inside their fenced yards, no worker has the right, under any circumstances, to spray paint directly at the animals," he said. Employees who spray animals should be reprimanded, he added.

Grange said he never received an apology, and he would like companies to make sure employees don't spray dogs again.

"If my dog had gone out there and attacked someone, I would be sued," Grange said. But when someone attacked his dog, "there's absolutely nothing I can do," he said.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com