A user going by the name Amy Leigh posted a photograph of her young daughter kissing the six-year-old dog named Pandora on Facebook. In the note she wrote that her family is in shock after a 72-year-old man stabbed Pandora after she encountered a pug at the beach.
"Ask me if I would let my very small child around this dog while I'm in another room? My answer is yes, absolutely. I did. Many times," Leigh said, in the note.
"And given the chance again, I would let that beautiful, intelligent, beloved dog care for my daughter in a heartbeat. Sadly, I will never have that opportunity. My daughter has lost her best friend. That pit bull that was murdered today? She helped me raise, and care for my almost four-year old daughter."
Leigh, who did not respond to a request for an interview, claims her sister's pit bull was on a leash in an area where there were signs indicating it was an on-leash neighbourhood. She questioned why the pug was running around without a leash.
However, a man who maintained he is the owner of the Pug named Winston told Global News Thursday that the pit bull had his little pug in “a vice grip.
“And I didn't know what to do,” said the man, who was not identified in the broadcast. “My little guy was just screeching. He was in a state of shock, for God's sake. I don't know how that young woman's feeling. She was hysterical. I broke down this morning just thinking about it. It wasn't my intention to to go out there and be like that.”
The man said his pug has been undergoing cancer treatment for 19 months and has a problem with his back end. “He wasn't going to survive an attack of any kind. I think I stabbed (the pit bull) in the neck or something. And he let go.”
However, Samantha Fairbridge, who identified herself as the pit bull owner, also told Global News that her dog bit the pug's ear and wasn't letting go.
“The owner of the pug ran up, immediately pulled out a knife, and began to stab my dog. As he was doing so, he was yelling 'you deserve to die'.”
She added: “We were doing everything right. This man should have had his dog on a leash. If he had, my dog would still be alive. I would still have my best friend to go home to.”
The incident has sparked an intense online debate about how the dog's death could have been prevented, from some people calling for the ban of pit bulls to others saying the pug should have been on a leash. Others felt the man should simply not have stabbed the dog.
Lorie Chortyk, the general manager of community relations at BC SPCA, said Thursday that the investigation into what happened is ongoing.
She said investigators are trying to determine whether the animal suffered from multiple stab wounds. The society was performing a necropsy Thursday on the dead dog to aid its investigation, but Chortyk did not know when the results would be available.
The 72-year-old man had been out walking with his pug when he encountered another dog owner who was walking her pit bull, according to Vancouver Police Department spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham.
Fincham said when the two people were unable to pull the pit bull off of the pug, the man pulled out a folding knife and killed the attacking dog. Fincham said the VPD is not considering charges and the case is now with the BC SPCA.
The injured pug was rushed to a nearby veterinary hospital where it received stitches for wounds on its neck. The deceased pit bull was picked up by animal control and delivered to the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Chortyk did not have a specific recommendation for what people should do in that situation, but noted that both dogs were in a highly excitable state and it would have been difficult to separate them. She said prevention is the best advice, adding that any dog should not be allowed to run around in on-leash areas.
"You can see both sides and understand why people feel sorry for both of them," she said.
The attack comes a little more than a month after neighbouring city Burnaby made it tougher for residents to own dogs the city considers vicious, including pit bulls.
That city boosted fines and impound periods for dogs involved in vicious incidents. Dog owners can now be fined $500 if their pet bites someone, or $200 if they are aggressive without biting. The impound period is now 21 days, with a $400 fee for dogs designated vicious.
Breeds considered vicious under the bylaw, including Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers and any dog that is a pit bull or a mixed breed with pit bull predominant now have to be registered.
In Vancouver, bylaws put the fine for an un-muzzled aggressive dog at $500, and the fee for an impounded aggressive dog is as high as $430.
(The Vancouver Sun - Nov 22, 2013)
Earlier:
They are going to try to charge this man with something, you can bet on it.
ReplyDeleteOn leash or not, if you do not have control of your animal and it starts attacking another, ANYONE should be allowed to use deadly force to make it stop. Seriously, who wouldn't kill a large aggressive animal trying to kill someone's smaller pet? Only dog fighters.
i despise these "see, my pibble is safe" photos. i am not as concerned about the safety of your baby as i am my dog.
ReplyDeletehopefully burnaby will enforce that muzzle law, unlike nanaimo.