Neighbours' quarrel suspected in attack on dog

The RCMP, SPCA and local authorities are investigating a brutal attack on a dog that was hit so hard he swallowed some of his own teeth that were broken in the assault.

Matthew Pacaud, who lives on an acreage in the Municipal District of Foothills, southwest of Calgary, said he came home on Tuesday but his dog, Beau, did not meet him at the front gate as usual.

"When I walked up to the front door I noticed blood, feces, teeth laying everywhere," Pacaud told CBC News on Thursday.

Beau, a four-year-old Great Pyrenees, was lying in his doghouse whimpering. Pacaud said he found four intact teeth on the ground, as well as blood near the front door.

Angry telephone message

Pacaud said the veterinarian told him Beau's injuries were the result of being struck by a blunt object. He also said the dog is missing more than four teeth.

"When we quickly looked, there's teeth that's broken off as well that the dog swallowed," said Pacaud, a carpentry student who lives at the acreage with his mother.

Pacaud, who owns two other dogs, said he received an angry message on his answering machine on Tuesday morning from one of his neighbours.

"It's half past 10. Your f---ing dog's been barking for about three hours, you inconsiderate horrible peasant," said a man said in the message that was played for CBC News.

Constant barking at all hours of the day from Pacaud's property has been a problem for years, the neighbour told CBC News on Friday. He declined to give his name.

He said he's tried to reason with Pacaud for years, even offering to buy a special collar for the dogs that deters barking.

The neighbour said he went to Pacaud's house to talk to him on Tuesday morning, but no one was home. The man said Beau attacked him and so he defended himself with the walking cane that he uses for a chronic back condition.

The neighbour said the barking has gotten so bad, he's looking for a new place to live with his wife and two sons.

Okotoks RCMP confirmed that they're reviewing the case with the SPCA and the Crown prosecutor and considering several possible charges, including trespassing and other Criminal Code offences.

A protective services officer from the M.D. of Foothills also interviewed Pacaud on Thursday.

Beau was undergoing surgery and x-rays on Friday.