The dog, said OPP spokeswoman Sgt. Stephanie Moniz, had gotten into a neighbour’s home and bit a person in the house. The dog was taken away and quarantined.
But MaryAnn Perry claims the dog just burst through her screen door and attacked her shepherd-Labrador mix. Her neighbour, she said, was sent to Leamington hospital for stitches.
“She just burst in,” said Perry, describing how the dog from next door tore through the screen door and began attacking her dog Wrigley in the living room on Thursday afternoon.
Perry’s neighbour George Starling heard her screaming and came to help. In the process, Starling was bitten by the other dog.
Don Bridgen, the animal control officer for Essex, said that as far as he understood from the paperwork, the dog he took away is a mixed-breed of boxer.
Perry claims this was the same dog who attacked and killed her West Highland white terrier Kiwi last October when he ambled next door. At the time, she didn’t put up a fight with the other dog’s owner because it was “an isolated incident,” Perry said.
“I did tell (the neighbour) that she needs to rethink ownership of this dog,” she said, adding that she regrets not doing something back then to have the dog removed and prevent any more injuries.
“This dog should have never been back in that neighbourhood,” said Lora Plackman, Starling’s daughter.
The owner of the boxer could not be reached for comment.
“Once is enough,” Perry said. There are small children and other dogs in the neighbourhood that are at risk, she said.
When Kiwi died, Perry said, she trusted the other dog owner would keep her pet restrained, which she did, with a leash tied to the patio. But on Thursday, the dog somehow got loose.
Melanie Coulter, executive director of the Windsor-Essex Humane Society, said it’s important to remember “any dog can bite regardless of the breed.”
In some cases, injuries or even killing another dog can be accidental, especially when the dogs involved are of different sizes, she said.
[Aren't we all a bit tired of people reminding us that "all dogs can bite"? But I love this next reminder... that sometimes the dog doesn't mean to kill the other animal... The dog attacks, mauls and kills another pet, but didn't mean to???? Give me a break.]
Incidents like these should serve to remind dog owners to make sure their pet is trained and socialized properly around other dogs.
“That can definitely help prevent problems in the future,” Coulter said.
By nature, dogs are prey animals. If they are off-leash and running around it’s not uncommon for them to get excited and possibly injure another animal, like a cat, that’s running loose, Coulter said. That doesn’t mean the dog is terrible, she said.
What humans shouldn’t do is get physically involved in a dog fight, she said. Ideally, you want to do is distract the animal.
What happens to an aggressive dog that either kills or hurts another dog or harms a human can vary widely from municipality to municipality, Coulter said.
(Windsor Star - May 17, 2013)
