CANADA -- Four days after their tiny Yorkie dog was fatally mauled by a pit bull in the city’s northeast, the slain dog’s owners say they’ve been given the run-around by city officials over the fate of the offending pooch.
Rebecca Ng said her boyfriend was playing ball on Monday with Niko, their 3-lb., two-year-old Yorkie at an off-leash area off Harvest Hills Blvd. N.E., when a much larger, brown and white pit bull charged.
“He was chasing a ball and this pit bull grabbed him and picked him up and started chewing him,” said Ng, 30.
The tiny dog tried fighting back, she said.
Her boyfriend, said Ng, couldn’t immediately get the larger dog to let go of Niko, whose throat and spine were critically mauled.
The couple said the pit bull’s owner, when he finally restrained his dog, insisted the pit bull had never done such a thing before.
On Friday morning, Niko succumbed to his injuries at a southeast veterinary hospital.
“He turned two when he was in hospital,” said an emotional Ng.
“He brought so much joy and laughter to our home.”
But the couple said when they contacted the pit bull’s owners on Thursday, they were told the dog had been returned to them.
“It’s not right, it’s not fair he should be released,” said Ng, adding if that’s true, the animal could pose a threat to other pets and children.
After spending an afternoon checking on the status of the pit bull, city bylaw and animal services spokeswoman Joanne Hahn said the animal was in their custody.
She couldn’t say if the pit bull had been returned to its owner at any time during the week.
“That’s what we’re going to investigate — it’s a sensitive issue, that’s why we take time to investigate it,” she said.
Ng said she believes the pit bull should be put down.
“An eye for an eye,” she said.
Hahn said that’s one option, though others are fines for the owner and a monitored socializing regimen.
“Dogs must be within sight of their owners and respond to the owner’s commands,” she said.
(Calgary Sun - Oct 1, 2011)
