The sad demise of Mr. Mulligan, victim of an apparent pit bull attack

CANADA -- Mr. Mulligan was well taken care of, well-behaved and could be counted on never to leave his yard.

Which is why Scott Harrison is not surprised that he found his dying dog where he did — still on his own property, the apparent victim of a neighbour’s pit bull.

“The poor little bugger, he stood his ground,” said Harrison, his voice cracking with emotion.
“It breaks my friggin’ heart. It’s not right. He was so well-trained.”

Harrison said he was downstairs at his home on the border of Lake Echo and East Preston on Sunday afternoon when he heard his wife, Marie, yell.

He raced upstairs and outside, where he found his beloved nine-year-old Mr. Mulligan taking his last breaths.

Scott Harrison is consoled by his two remaining Yorkie-Lhasa Apsos,
Master Tricky Woo and Lady Cassandra, near the area in his yard where a
neighbouring pit bull had killed his other dog, Mr. Mulligan, on Sunday.
(THE CHRONICLE HERALD)

Marie said she had only let out the couple’s three dogs — all Yorkshire terrier-Lhasa Apso mixes — for a few minutes before calling them back inside. When all but Mr. Mulligan came in, she said she went to investigate and found the neighbour’s pit bull standing over the couple’s oldest dog.

Scott began CPR and continued while his wife drove them the 20 minutes to an emergency veterinarian clinic, but nothing could save the dog.

He said the pit bull’s owner apologized for the attack.

A Halifax Regional Municipality spokesman confirmed the owner surrendered the dog to animal control officials.

But Scott Harrison said the owner has two more pit bulls.

“And now, when (my) other two go out, I go out with them and I take a baseball bat,” he said.
“It’s wrong.”

Harrison said the pit bulls have come on his property before, and he warned his neighbour to “keep your dogs on your property.”

He said he wants all the dogs taken from the owner.

“I’m not blaming the breed,” he said.

Does he think a Lhasa Apso would have come over and killed his dog? Does he think a Poodle would have???

“But my dog is dead. I don’t want any money. You can’t put any value on Mr. Mulligan. ... It’s just wrong, and it could have been my nephew or my niece (attacked) when they come here.”

Municipal spokesman Brendan Elliott said an investigation is underway.

According to bylaws, the owner of a dog that attacks could face a ticket of $348.95, but no fine has yet been levied in this case.

Elliott said an assessment will be done on the dog to determine what happens to it next. If the attack is believed to be an isolated incident and the dog can be safely adopted, the previous owner would have to apply to have it returned.

He said this was the first complaint to animal control associated with the owner’s address, and the investigation is only dealing with the seized dog, not the owner’s other dogs.

Elliott said anyone who sees aggressive dogs running around a neighbourhood should call animal control officials.

(The Chronicle Herald - November 24, 2014)