Despite dog having been declared dangerous in 2007, police do not plan to file charges in dog attack on baby

CANADA -- Police say charges will not be filed in the December mauling of a 16-day-old Saanich girl by a family dog — an attack that will leave her with scars.

The baby was attacked by a pit bull-Rottweiler cross that had been declared dangerous in 2007.

The house where a baby girl was mauled by a pit bull/Rottweiler cross.

“Clearly, when the circumstances of this type of event are examined, there are areas that would clearly indicate that there’s some type of neglect or, at very minimum, a very poor decision on the part of people involved in this case,” Saanich police Sgt. Steve Eassie said. “Investigators were originally hopeful that a charge of criminal negligence causing bodily harm would be the expected outcome.

However, at the end of the day, we were not able to have enough information to meet a criminal threshold.”

Eassie said the people involved were co-operative with police. The child is in the custody of her parents.

At the time of the incident, hospital staff reported the attack to Ministry of Children and Family Development social workers.

Eassie said the child has been discharged from the hospital and continues to recover from her wounds. “But obviously, with this type of incident, there will be some long-term scarring,” he said.

The wounds were all in the head and included deep facial lacerations.

Family members drove the infant from their McLellan Street home in the Glanford area to Victoria General Hospital about 1:45 a.m. on Dec. 28, after the girl was attacked. The dog was put down the same day.

Police had received complaints from neighbours that the dog was not being kept in a locked cage or muzzled, as required by the Saanich pound.



A dog cage is seen in the backyard of Paul Gill’s home. Saanich had
previously ordered Gill to keep his dog in a locked
 cage because of its aggressive behaviour.

“With quick intervention [from the family], this tragic circumstance was not as serious as what we originally anticipated,” Eassie said. “The injuries to the child were very serious. Although it could have been life-threatening, thankfully, it was not the case.

“She does have a very small amount of nerve damage to one of her cheeks, which has caused some minor issues. However, that is expected to alleviate as she gets older.”

The girl might need plastic surgery at some point, Eassie said.

Police have not ruled out filing charges in the future.

“If further information comes to light, if there is somebody out there that has further information and first-hand information, we would welcome that person to come forward,” Eassie said.

The incident should serve as a warning to others, he said. “Clearly, this is not a breedspecific case. We have heard of other incidents involving other types of dogs. The underlying factor here is to use extreme caution when introducing a new family member, specifically a baby, into a family where you already have pets.”

(Vancouver Sun - Feb 18, 2015)