Bylaw officers hunt for dog after attack on girls

Animal and bylaw officers are canvassing a northeast Calgary neighbourhood in search of a dog that attacked two children and a man.

A man delivering flyers on Saddlemont Way was attacked by two dogs on Wednesday evening. He was able to block them with a delivery cart, but the animals went on to bite two young girls walking with their grandfather on Saddlemont Close.

The dogs came up from behind the girls — Bhavkiran Mahal, 3, and her sister Perveen, 4 — and started biting their face and arms. A neighbour who saw the first attack chased the dogs in his truck and drove them off with a baseball bat.

"There was actually a dog that had one of the girls' head in its mouth, and there was a gentleman beating it with a baseball bat," witness Jason Fischer said.

"When I saw the face of the dog, there was no doubt that he was crazy … the dog's eyes were just completely intense."

One of the dogs was caught and is being held at animal services. Doug Frizzell, operations manager of animal and bylaw services, said the two dogs were pit bulls, and there are reports the one in custody is a male Staffordshire terrier.

The second dog, described as a tan-coloured pit bull, was picked up by a woman in a blue minivan who then drove off, according to witness reports to animal services.

Same dogs possibly involved in May attack

A similar vehicle was seen leaving the scene of another dog attack in Taradale last month that sent an elderly man to the hospital.

Witnesses at that time said the unleashed, medium-sized dogs were chased by two women who put them in the back of a dark-coloured van and sped off. The animals were not caught.

"There are some similarities to an attack that happened in early May in the same general area as well as the information we had at that time," Frizzell said. "There was another female in a small blue minivan that had taken the dogs away from the scene as well."

'If they own the dog, they should know how to keep them away … so they don't harm others.' — Jaswinder Mahal, father of victims

He asked for anyone who knows the dogs or the owner to call the city.

Jaswinder Mahal spent all night with his daughters at the Alberta Children's Hospital. They required stitches and were sporting bandages on their arms on Thursday. The man who had been delivering flyers was treated by paramedics at the scene.

"They're just really scared. They're just talking about teeths of dog. They're very scared. They're crying," Mahal said of the trip to the hospital.

"When they catch the dog it should be killed and the dog put down, and the owner of the dog also get punished. Make an example for other dog owners, right? If they own the dog, they should know how to keep them away … so they don't harm others."