In exclusive interviews, 24 Hours spoke to both the girl’s mother and the owner of the severely wounded dog that was euthanized because of its internal injuries.
The two women contacted 24 Hours separately after reading my two columns describing other recent B.C. pit bull attacks and calling for a provincial ban on the breed, as is done in Ontario and the city of Winnipeg. Both women now support a ban.
Christy’s mother Susan (their names have been changed for privacy reasons) said Sunday that the sudden attack by an off-leash pit bull came without warning and resulted in severe bite wounds to the girl’s face and leg that sent her to hospital by ambulance.
The child’s puncture wounds required 10 stitches to her leg and another four to her face, said Susan, adding that her daughter was traumatized by the attack and is now in therapy.
But the two-year-old pit bull that attacked the child has not been put down - instead it was returned to its owner with the only restrictions being that it is muzzled and kept on a leash in public.
“We were leaving the playground when I looked back and saw the pit bull barreling towards us,” Susan said. “It jumped right on (my daughter) and knocked her on her back - it blindsided (her) from the side - she didn’t see it.”
The dog sank its teeth deep into the child’s leg and Susan sprang into action.
“I punched the pit bull in the face - pure adrenaline - it was like a shark, it was insane, like a beast,“ she said.
The dog’s walker - not its owner - immediately helped pry the pit bull off Christy but then “it lunged and bit her in the face and clamped on.”
The dog’s grip wasn’t as tight and Susan managed to free the screaming child as police and paramedics arrived to take them to hospital.
Susan, a beagle owner and dog lover, now believes: “Pit bulls should be banned in B.C. like they are in Ontario.”
In a second incident on Feb. 6, a woman named Sandy [last name has been withheld for privacy reasons] was walking her maltese lhasa apso Cleo in Surrey’s Holland Park.
“My dog was on her leash beside me and attacked suddenly without warning by a pit bull that grabbed Cleo,” Sandy told me Sunday. “The pit bull’s jaws had enough time to do serious internal damage.”
After she and passersby helped rescue Cleo from the unleashed pit bull, she took her bleeding dog to a veterinarian, but the 16-year-old pet’s injuries were so severe it had to be put down immediately.
Sandy called police and Surrey Animal Control, who told her they captured a pit bull on the loose that evening with no tags and it was euthanized last week after no owner came to claim it. Surrey Animal Control confirmed these details with 24 hours.
“I think it’s time to basically ban pit bulls,” Sandy said. “I love dogs - don’t get me wrong - but I really believe in banning. It’s the unpredictability that does it.”
(24 Hours Vancouver - Feb 16, 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment