Cowichan News Leader, March 2004

ARE THESE DOGS DANGEROUS?

By Jennifer Hourihan

A Chemainus woman believes it’s too easy to have a dog declared vicious, and fears her beloved pets’ lives are in danger because of it.
Mavis Sheikh’s two lab cross dogs, Tally and Rocky, were declared vicious by North Cowichan in the fall after an incident occurred when Sheikh was walking the two dogs off leash near St. Joseph’s school.
According to Sheikh, her dog Rocky met up with a woman and her small dog, and the two were sniffing when her other dog Tally came running up.
Sheikh said the woman picked up her small dog because Tally appeared excited, and Tally jumped up at the dog.
Sheikh said the woman then put the dog down on the ground and tried to shield it from Tally with her body. Sheikh believes Tally was only trying to play, but admits the woman was nipped in a scuffle that followed.
The woman went to the hospital and had a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
The following day Sheikh received a call that the woman had made a complaint to North Cowichan, and several days later she received a letter designating both her dogs as vicious.
“This is really frightening and heavy-handed,” Sheik said. “These dogs were not seen by the person who made the judgment.”
Sheikh says her dogs are not vicious. She tutors children after school and says the children frequently play with the dogs with no problem.
She’s concerned because having a vicious dog designation already on file against the dogs mean another complaint could result in them being seized and destroyed.
“I can’t live with that threat,” she said. “My animals don’t deserve that.”
She’s now concerned it’s just too easy to have a dog designated vicious.
“The animal control officer should have come to see me and explained what the situation was before she issued the warrant. She can’t write a report without seeing the dog.”
But Cowichan SPCA Inspector Erika Paul said it’s normal for such orders to be made without seeing the dog, since dogs respond differently in different situations.
Paul said each complaint against a dog is handled on its own merits, and it reasonable for a dog to be judged vicious on one complaint if that complaint was serious and valid enough.
She said from her understanding of the situation, it fits the definition in the Local Government Act of a dangerous dog because it attacked without provocation.
“North Cowichan is very much within its rights,” she said. “We know the dogs, and they are great to people — but they weren’t so great to the victim in this case.”
Paul said people shouldn’t fear their animals can easily be seized and destroyed. She said a vicious dog order is intended to make people understand the seriousness of having a dog that has bitten someone, and allows animal control officers to seize the dog if the order is violated or if the dog bites again. But she says a dog can only be destroyed with an order from a judge, which would give the owner a chance to defend their animal in court.
Sheikh is now seeking to have the order lifted, after an incident last week made her fear the order leaves her dogs too vulnerable.
She had dog trainer Jo Quinlan evaluate the dogs. Quinlan reported finding no aggression at all in Rocky, and that Tally is not aggressive toward people but sometimes gets excited with other dogs.
Sheikh is still waiting to speak to North Cowichan about the order.