Connor Purvis, now seven, bears the physical scars of the attack on his left arm and carries the emotional impact of it inside, making it difficult for him to be around his own dog,
While the attack was serious, provincial court Judge Gregory Lenehan said, “the incident itself is not one where I am prepared to say that Sarge is an inherently vicious, uncontrollable dog that needs to be put down . . . it appears dangerous, but I would not describe the dog as inherently vicious.”
However, the Bridgewater judge said the owners of large dogs have a heightened responsibility to ensure their animals are under their control.
“Owners need to realize that when you choose to possess a powerful dog you must accept the increased risk of serious consequences should you fail to properly train and /or restrain your dogs because the more powerful the animal, the greater the risk of significant harm or injury should your dog attack,” Lenehan said.
Sarge's owners, Kelly Allen and Darren Croft of New Canada, were charged with violating the District of Lunenburg's dog bylaw by having a fierce and dangerous dog that attacked Connor Purvis without provocation on June 27, 2011.
He imposed a $600 fine on the couple but did not order Sarge euthanized, saying while it was a “fierce and dangerous” attack, the dog did not set out to prey on Connor.
At their trial this past December, Sarah Wentzell said she took her son Connor and her daughter to visit with Allen and Croft that day so that they could play with the couple's two children and she could spend some time with her friends.
At one point, Allen's son Jason asked to take Connor across the field to his grandmother's house to show Connor a guitar. The adults agreed, “and off the boys went without a care or concern by anybody,” Lenehan said.
Sarge ran up to the boys but Jason told him to go home, and Connor joined in, but instead the dog sat down near Connor.
As Connor flipped his arm to shoo the dog home, Sarge grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled. Connor pulled back and was eventually able to free his sleeve, but the dog grabbed it again and was able to get hold of more of the sleeve the second time.
“He clamped down with his powerful jaws. A struggle ensued between Connor and the dog. Connor was no match for the strength and determination of Sarge,” the judge said.
When Jason couldn't get the dog to let go, he ran for help. Wentzell, Croft and Allen all came running. “When they arrived they witnessed Connor on the ground with his left arm clamped between the jaws of Sarge and the dog pulling on the child,” Lenehan said.
Sarge ignored their commands to let go of Connor, so Allen draped herself over the back of the dog to get him to release the boy as Wentzell pulled her son free.
Connor suffered two broken bones in his arm, puncture wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises.
One defence witness said what happened was not an attack, but Lenehan discounted his evidence.
“A dog does not have to rip a person's throat or mangle the face for it to be an attack. Connor Purvis was attacked. He experienced it as an attack. Ms. Wentzell observed it as an attack. Ms. Allen and Mr. Croft responded to it as an attack. By any objective assessment, it was an attack.”
The only issue, said the judge, is whether the dog was provoked to attack. Lenehan said he wasn't.
Connor flicked his arm to shoo the dog home.
“That, folks, is not provocation,” the judge said. “There is nothing in what Connor did that can be said to meet the requirements of provocation.”
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| Rottweiler Sarge along with Jason and Alysha, the children of Kelly Allen and Darren Croft. |
Lenehan said he was greatly concerned that the dog did not obey commands given by his owners, or anyone else, to let go of Connor. He said Sarge was “fully engaged in attacking Connor Purvis.”
A Facebook page called Save Sarge was also introduced by the defence. Lenehan said it said the bite was the result of a “rambunctious game of tug of war with no parental supervision. And to that I say this, Connor Purvis was not playing a game of tug of war.”
Sarge did not run up to the boys and viciously attack Connor, the judge said. Rather, he initially ran up to them and sat down before clamping on to Connor's arm. “I would not describe this as a vicious action by the dog,” Lenehan said.
(TheChronicleHerald - Jan 10, 2013)
