Salim Jiwa and Frank Luba
The Province

Monday, September 22, 2003
Neighbours rushed to the rescue swinging garden rakes and sticks when a 33-year-old Chilliwack woman was viciously attacked by two pit-bull cross dogs.

"I heard yelling, 'Help me, help me, help me' and I grabbed the rake from the back of the house and came to look," said neighbour Siegfried Starke. "There was no barking because the dogs were busy biting her.

"The dog had the woman pinned down on the ground with a full grip on the arm and she had a really, really bad wound on her wrist. I was really worried the dog would go for her throat because she was already on the ground.

"There was a heavy duty laceration on one arm, deep puncture wounds -- her left hand was shredded out.

"We got the dogs off her and we took her to the shady tree across and someone called 911."

The woman, who was not identified, was taken to Chilliwack General Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening wounds. The owner of the dogs was not at home and police could not explain what the woman was doing in his front yard.

Neighbour Mike Smith, 52, also suffered serious bites as he tried to pry the dogs off the woman as she lay screaming on the grass of the home in the 46000-block Cleveland Avenue on Saturday afternoon.

Smith was released from hospital after treatment, said his 15-year-old son Josh.

"This lady was in pretty bad shape," Josh said.

"My dad and I got some sticks and we started to try to scare the dogs away. Then my dad got bitten and I almost got bit too, but we kept on trying to help the woman."

RCMP Const. Krista Vrolyk said the dogs have been investigated previously by RCMP and the city has launched several bylaw violation investigations.

"These dogs have been the subject of previous complaints," said Vrolyk. "Some of the previous complaints actually form part and parcel of the investigation into [Saturday's] attack so we cannot comment too much on it."

She said police took the dogs, but wouldn't say where they are. There were reports the dogs had been freed when taken into custody previously.

Dog-lover Mark Dowhaniuk thinks it's time to consider tougher regulations for vicious breeds.

"At some point, somebody is going to have to address the issue," said Dowhaniuk, co-chairman of the Vancouver Dog Owners Association and owner of a golden retriever.

"My personal view is I wouldn't have a pit bull.

"There are certain breeds that are more common to attack and do damage.

"Maybe it's time to start thinking they've got to be leashed and muzzled at all times -- which isn't fair to the dog."

Winnipeg was the first major city in Canada to ban a specific breed, outlawing pit bulls in 1989. Serious dog attacks dropped from an average of 25 annually to one or two a year.

Similar bylaws have since been enacted against pit bulls in Clarke's Harbour, N.S., Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario, and five communities in Quebec.

Chilliwack Mayor Clint Hames said his community has been working on tougher measures for enclosures for dogs that have been declared dangerous.

"This is a case that's horrible," he said. "You'd get a lot of support from me if somebody brought forward a breed-specific bylaw."

The municipality has the right to seize and destroy vicious dogs, but only after they have been declared dangerous and have committed another offence.

OTHER MAULING INCIDENTS

Some recent dog attacks in B.C.:

- SPCA officer Amanda Muir was attacked in June in Delta by an injured Rottweiler guard dog she was trying to transport to hospital. Both her arms were severely damaged.

- A 31-year-old woman on the Opitsaht reserve north of Tofino was mauled by three Rottweilers in March, leaving the bone in her calf exposed. She was in the midst of an argument with a man when the dogs jumped into the altercation.

- Shenica White, 14, was attacked by two mastiff-Rottweiler crossbreed dogs in east Vancouver early Dec. 22 last year. The dogs, which had escaped their yard, caused severe injuries to the girl's face and head.

- Dog attacks are a big concern for postal workers walking routes. Last year, there were 62 dog-bite cases in the Lower Mainland, while the reported number of dog bites for the rest of B.C. was 27.

sjiwa@png.canwest.com; fluba@png.canwest.com

© Copyright 2003 The Province