CANADA -- A dog owner watched in horror as her [13 week-old ]puppy was seized in the jaws of a pit bull and carried off.
Pebbles, a Shih Tzu [Yorkie mix], was being walked by Katelyn Beale in McAdam Park in Duncan when the puppy was bitten from behind.
"Pebbles was squealing, I was hysterical," said Beale, 20.
Beale and the pit bull's owner managed to prise the dogs apart. Pebbles had been on a leash but the pit bull was not, which is permitted in the dog park.
Afterwards, the pit bull owner brushed off the attack, saying Pebbles was fine [and that it wasn't her dog's fault], Beale said.
But when she took Pebbles to a vet following Thursday's incident, she was told the puppy is lucky to be alive after the amount of blood it lost from cuts to its body.
It also had bruises around its neck, bruised ribs, and an inflamed tongue.
Beale has only had 13-week-old Pebbles for a month. It is her first dog.
Following the attack, Pebbles has become nervous of people and other dogs, and sticks close by her owner's side.
Beale told Coastal Animal Services about the attack but has yet to file an official statement.
"That dog should maybe be put down," Beale said of the pit bull. She fears that it may attack another dog.
The pit bull was white with brown spots and had a brown mark around one of its eyes.
Duncan does not have bylaws about pit bulls having to wear muzzles, but if any breed of dog is deemed dangerous after an incident, it must wear a leash and muzzle, said Judi Burnett, office manager for Coastal Animal Services.
Dog attacks can be carried out by any breed, it depends on how the owner treats and trains the animal, said Farouk Jiwa, a Vancouver-based lawyer who deals with dog-bite claims.
Pit bulls have never stood out as the most vicious dog among cases he has handled, he said.
(Times Colonist - May 24, 2011)
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