An Edmonton woman is sharing video footage of a pit bull-type dog attacking her five-year-old Beagle-Labrador cross, George, with the hope that lawmakers will do more to hold dog owners responsible for their petsā behaviour.
The video, which was shot in February by a passerby, shows an off-leash pit bull biting George and shaking him from side to side.
Multiple adults hit the attacking dog, but it continued to shake George until two men ā one of them the apparent owner ā carried it away.
Georgeās owner, Kathy Clarke, told CTV Edmonton that the pit bull ājust clamped on and would not let go no matter how I hit him.ā
āI thought George was going to die,ā she said.
George received several puncture wounds but has since recovered.
Clarke says bylaw officers identified the dogās owner but canāt do anything unless he turns himself in.
Clarke says she believes bylaws have to change.
āThese pet owners need to be held accountable when their dog does damage,ā Clarke said.
Clarke said she decided to share the video after hearing about a beagle that was attacked and killed by an off-leash pit bull-type dog in Edmonton last month.
In that case, a 14-year-old beagle named Riley received a 25-centimetre gash and had to be euthanized.
Rileyās owners asked animal control to seize the pit bull-type dog, but an officer told CTV Edmonton that āseizure of the animal is largely dependent on theā¦ willingness of the owner to surrender (it).ā
Tia Lenz, who runs an Edmonton not-for-profit organization dedicated to rescuing pit bulls, blamed the pit bullās owner for the attack on George.
āThat is why we have a stigma, because of owners like that,ā Lenz said.
āPreventative is key,ā she added. āHave your dog on a leash, watch your dog when itās out in the backyard, donāt allow your dog to be free like that."
Cities and provinces around North America have debated whether to ban pit bulls and other breeds due to their propensity to cause more serious injuries and deaths.
in 2005 and later amended it to create new penalties for owners of all dangerous dogs, regardless of breed.
A study by the found that 60 out of 199 dog-bite related human fatalities between 1979 and 1996 were due to pit bull-type dogs.
The City of Montreal in 2016 after data showed that 137 out of 362 (38 per cent) of serious attacks on people and animals between Jan 1. 2015 and September 2016 were from pit bull-type dogs.
That ban followed the Christiane Vadnais, who was killed in her back yard, and after the severe mauling of a seven-year-old girl in Longueuil, Que.
The owner of the dog that mauled the seven-year-old was sentenced last month to four years in jail for criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Montrealās new mayor, Valerie Plante, when city council voted to end the breed-specific legislation in December.
Christiane Vadnaisā sister, Lise Vadnais, later said she was āextremely disappointedā with the decision.
With reports from CTV Edmontonās Nahreman Issa and files from CTV Montreal
