During a walk in Sullivan Park last Tuesday night, Anita Uppal took out her iPhone to photograph her newly groomed, four-year-old Havanese Shih Tzu cross, Bella. She had no idea that her dog would be dead an instant later.
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| Anita Uppal, left, with niece Pamela Uppal, centre, and daughter Simran, with the family’s remaining two dogs, Coco and Cookie. |
"As I was preparing to take the picture, I noticed two unleashed, large dogs that were running toward us," said Uppal, holding back tears. "(Bella) was smelling the tree and the grass - she had her back to them so she didn't know they were coming."
She said the two dogs - a Rottweiler cross and a Golden Retriever - came at them full speed and locked onto Bella in a "predatory" manner. The Rottweiler cross bit into the back of Bella's neck, lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the dirt, killing her instantly.
"It all happened so fast," said Uppal, adding that she tried to grab Bella, but was frozen in fear.
She screamed at the top of her lungs to get somebody's attention. "The owners, at that point, were nowhere to be found."
As she screamed, a man and woman ran around the corner, identifying themselves as the owners of the off-leash dogs. They saw Bella on the ground, motionless, her neck severed.
"I was yelling at them that their dog had just killed my dog," said Uppal. "I was afraid that they were going to run because at first, they weren't taking responsibility.
"On one hand, she was apologizing and she was saying that she's sorry, but on the other hand, she was saying, 'My dogs are really friendly.'"
Uppal's 24-year-old niece, Pamela, tried to pick up Bella, but neither could bear to look at the dog. They exchanged information with the owners and called Anita's sister before taking Bella to the veterinarian, but it was too late.
As a result of the attack, Uppal is calling on dog owners to leash their pets in on-leash parks in hopes of preventing this from happening to others. The City of Surrey has eight parks where dogs are allowed off-leash.
"People need to be aware - it didn't need to happen," she said. "She was just so selfish to have her dogs off the leash. She had no control, none."
Uppal described Bella as "the glue that held our family together," and said the loss of their beloved dog has profoundly affected her 19-year-old daughter.
"That dog was her whole purpose," said Uppal, adding that her daughter hasn't slept in days. "We've been watching her for two days because she is so distraught...she's not able to process it, she's not able to regulate her emotions."
Kim Marosevich, manager of animal care and control with the City of Surrey, said that once cases are reported with the department, a bylaw officer will gather information from all dog owners involved and any witnesses to figure out what course of action should be taken.
To determine if a dog is a danger to society, the department looks for a history of aggression, trends of irresponsible dog ownership, which dog instigated the incident and whether the offending dog has attacked humans instead of animals.
"In some cases, we may go as far as pursuing what's referred to as a 'destruction order' against the offending dog if the incident is severe enough," said Marosevich.
During the summer months, as more people are out walking their dogs, the department sends out more bylaw officers to patrol parks, do investigations and pick up stray, injured and deceased animals.
But Uppal and her family know no level of increased patrol will bring Bella back.
"I miss my dog," she said. "That dog was everything to me."
(Vancouver Sun - June 24, 2013)
