I come here for vacation from Ontario and this time I arrived Oct 10th and went with my friend, for a walk with our little dogs at Billings Spit about 8:45 am Oct 11th. We got to the beach and let our dogs off leash. Neither of us have vicious or aggressive dogs. They are very social and socialize with all the other dogs we come across.
About two minutes into our walk there was a lady with a pit bull on a leash and one off leash. Buddy went up to the leashed one and they were sniffing each other, and the lady said, “Don’t worry she’s fine.
But that one,” she pointed at the other pit bull that was not leashed or muzzled, “is reactive.”
Just then that unleashed dog lunged at my dog. The lady was trying to pull my dog out of her dog’s grip, and was trying to grab her dog as well.
I ran over and grabbed her dog by the collar and it let go of my dog. I hung onto to her dog until she had him, and then took my dog to the vet at Saseenos.
From there, we went to the animal hospital in Victoria where they put his intestines back in and sewed up the holes from the pit bull’s bite which went right through the stomach cavity.
I waited and visited my dog each day hoping he would survive the ordeal.
I was shown where the owners of the pit bulls live, and went there on the evening of Oct 11th to talk with them about the incident. They weren’t home. I went the next morning and still no one was home. Then I went later in the evening and they were home.
The lady took a few minutes to get her dogs under control because of the knock at the door. Then she invited me in and I told her I’m not comfortable going in with the dogs. She said they are fine but he is "reactive".
So she came out, and we started talking.
She said she felt we were 50/50 responsible since my dog wasn’t on a leash either. I disagreed because my dog is not aggressive and she was aware her dog was, as she so stated just before her dog attacked mine. Then her boyfriend (husband?) came out and was quite aggressive towards me and verbally abusive. I thought he was going to physically assault me. He said, “Take me the court,” and he said he wasn’t paying anything.
My partner was with me at the time, and we left.
PIT BULL DECLARED DANGEROUS
The next morning I called the CRD to report the incident and was given a file number, and was later told that they spoke to the dog owners. That dog has been designated as a dangerous dog by the CRD and must be muzzled out in public.
I did try filing a complaint with the RCMP, but they brushed me off because to them unless a person was injured there is nothing they can do.
I have no desire to have the pit bull destroyed, just that the owners take responsibility.
Well Buddy made it through his first surgery, but it was touch and go, and I got to get him back six days later and nurse him at home with a feeding tube and his medicines. Now that he is stable enough we go back to do the surgery to fix his leg on Monday. His bones need to be fused in order for him to recover.
I have since heard that a neighbor’s dog was also attacked by a pit bull here, a day or two before mine was attacked. Maybe the same dog?
I am unable to file a complaint at the Sooke town hall or make a small claims file to get some of the vet bill covered. I don’t have the owner of the pit bull’s name to do either. CRD tells me that they can’t provide me with the name due to freedoms of information act. So, I’m not sure what to do next.
This doesn't make sense. If a police report was filed, it is public record. If she knows where the owners live, she can easily find out who owns the property. If it's a rental property, she can track down the property owner and obtain the renter's information in order to file a lawsuit.
If she doesn't want to do all that, HIRE A LAWYER! They'll do the legwork and get all this figured out. That's what they're paid to do. If it were a $400 bill, I can see just "letting it go" but when you're talking massive amounts of money, it's worth it to get an attorney.
So far the bill is $8,200, and I’ve been given an estimate of $4,000-5,000 for the leg surgery on Monday.
Kim Sault, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
GoFundMe page "Buddy's medical expenses"
(Sooke Pocket News - Oct 23, 2016)
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