Edmonton dog owner may be fined $10,000 after dog attack

CANADA -- The man who was caring for four dogs who brutally attacked a 54-year-old woman and her tiny Papillion could now be facing thousands of dollars in penalties.

"This was the most serious dog attack on a human that we've had in a very, very long time," said Keith Scott, Edmonton's coordinator of animal control.

According to police, the woman was walking her dog through an alley near 112 Avenue and 101 Street the morning of Sept. 14 when she was surrounded and attacked by four large dogs.

A man in the area heard her screams and came to her rescue, driving his car up to the woman and pulling her and her dog inside to avoid being attacked himself. That effort, police say, may have saved the woman's life.



Aaron Copeland

Both the woman and her dog required multiple surgeries, with police officers raising funds to help pay for veterinary bills.

Aaron Copeland, who owned three of the dogs -- including two Staffordshire Terriers and a Great Pyrenees / Labrador Retriever mix -- and was caring for another dog for a friend, was shocked by the attack as the dogs had never acted aggressively towards anyone before.

"My dogs are not like this. They're very, very friendly dogs," Copeland said. "This just blows my mind that this even happened. I don't understand. I wish my dogs could talk so they could tell us something that they know."

Now, a judge will decide what penalties Copeland will face, with minimum fines ranging from $500 to $10,000 per dog not including any possible restitution paid to the victim.

"Because of the seriousness of this incident and what happened, we wanted to be able to make sure that the dogs wouldn't be a risk to the public again," said Scott.

The city has filed dangerous dog applications for the four dogs involved, imposing restrictions "above and beyond" what is normally issued -- such as being muzzled and on a leash whenever they are outside -- due to the severity of the attack.

Because both owners seem willing to comply, Scott says animal control has no intention of euthanizing the dogs.

"It's just really important that people understand that a dog can do this, whether or not they feel threatened, whether or not they are small animal aggressive or whether or not they feel like they are guarding their property," said Scott. "It's just really important for people to work with their dogs and be a responsible pet owner."

(Edmonton Sun - Oct 21, 2014)