A Chatham woman says she's not done fighting for stricter regulations after her dog was mauled by two other dogs earlier this summer.
On the afternoon of July 21, Lily Wigle was walking with her 11-year-old dog Bandit in her neighbourhood of St. Anthony Street and Redwood Crescent when two larger dogs ran up to her and attacked the Chihuahua-Pomeranian-Yorkie mix.
A case report completed by PAWR following the attack stated that when Bandit was taken to the shelter, her injuries were so severe that it was clear she required emergency euthanization.
According to the report, the owner of the two dogs told the animal control officer that the dogs had been off-leash while the owner was bringing them into the car. That's when the dogs saw Bandit, went after her and attacked. One of the dogs is listed as being a bulldog/boxer mix while the other is listed as a bulldog mix.
Witness accounts included in the report alleged that the two dogs had been loose many times before.
After the attack, Wigle pushed for the dogs to be euthanized. However, since then, she has a slightly different stance.
"At first I was just so horrified and it consumed me for the first while," she said. "I wanted those dogs euthanized -- but, I'm a dog lover and I don't feel they should be euthanized unless there is nowhere else for them to go."
As a result of the fatal attack, both dogs have been designated as being potentially dangerous. As a result, the owner cannot transfer ownership of the dogs without first getting written consent from the municipality. The dogs must also be muzzled and secured with a short leash while not on the owner's premises. When the dogs are on the owner's property, they must be securely contained indoors or contained in a fenced area while outdoors. The owner must also post a sign on the property warning of the presence of a dangerous dog.
There was an option to appeal the dangerous dog designation, but the owner did not choose to pursue that.
According to PAWR's incident report, immediately following the attack, the owner of the dogs admitted to animal control that the animals did not have their current dog licences. The owner also stated that they did not wish to voluntarily surrender the dogs to animal control.
Wigle said she does feel that some justice was served. However, she said she doesn't believe that anyone who owns a dog involved in such a vicious attack should still get to keep them and ideally thinks that the dogs should be rehabilitated and transferred to a different home.
She added that she still lives in fear that another attack in the neighbourhood could happen.
"These dogs are dangerous. They should not be in a community where they can do it again," said Wigle. "If they do accidentally get out again, it scares me. School's starting, there's going to be all kinds of kids walking up and down this road."
Wigle said she got in touch with a lawyer after the attack but was told they only work with cases involving a dog and a human, not dog on dog attacks. By sharing her story, Wigle said she has heard from multiple other people who have been in similar situations and believes there are gaps in the system when it comes to dog on dog attacks.
"Most definitely. All my neighbours, we don't understand why something more isn't being done. Do we have to wait until a child gets attacked? We don't understand that -- it's ridiculous," she said.
The owner of the dogs that killed Bandit was issued two tickets for violating Section 7.8.b of Chatham-Kent's Responsible Animal Ownership By-law, which states that "no owner of a dog shall permit the dog to bite or attack a person or domestic animal." Each violation comes with a $490 fine. The owner was also issued a ticket and $240 fine for the dogs being without a current and valid licence. The owner was permitted to dispose of the licencing ticket after ordering the proper dog tags following the attack.
A few days after the attack, Wigle organized a small rally on her street in hopes of bringing attention to what happened. However, she said that's only the beginning and she will continue to push to get harsher penalties in place for the owners of dogs that attack other animals.
"I'm going to be getting together with some other people that this has happened to," Wigle explained. "I'm going to give more notice this time for a rally and try and get maybe a petition going."
