CANADA -- Investigations are underway into Tuesday’s mauling of a Bell Canada employee by two Rottweilers in the back yard of a Kitchener home.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society and federal labour investigators are probing the circumstances to see if there were violations of city bylaws, the Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act or the Canada Labour Code.
Waterloo regional police shot the two Rottweilers after they attacked the Bell technician and charged at the two officers, police said today.
The worker, who was taken to hospital with leg and arm injuries, is recovering at home.
When officers first arrived at the Falesy Avenue home, they found the man with extensive injuries lying on the ground between the dogs and not moving, police said.
They used pepper spray to try to stop the dogs’ aggressive behaviour, but it had no effect. The officers moved to the rear yard where they were charged by the dogs, the police statement said.
They fired their guns “out of concern for the safety of the injured male and themselves."
One dog was killed and the other was put down later because its injuries were so severe.
Shayne Turner, the City of Kitchener’s director of bylaw enforcement, said it’s rare dogs are shot.
“In my 10 years with the city, I can only think of one or two times when a dog had to be shot," he said Wednesday. “It’s not common at all."
The unidentified Bell worker was taken to Grand River Hospital with arm and leg injuries.
Dave McLennan lives in the house, but was not home at the time. His mother, Marjorie, was there when the Bell technician arrived.
The dogs stayed in the fenced yard while he worked inside. When he needed to go outside, Marjorie brought the dogs inside, she said Tuesday.
But they got out through a back door and stood on a deck while the technician worked in a corner of the yard, she said.
When the worker approached the deck, Marjorie said he “freaked out" when he saw the dogs there. He had initially been nervous about the dogs.
One of the dogs grabbed him by the jacket and the other joined in.
(Metroland News Service - May 10, 2012)
