Experts say more proactive approach to dog ownership is needed after recent dog attacks
11-year-old boy was attacked and killed in an Edmonton home by 2 large dogs
As two families deal with the impacts of separate dog attacks in Toronto and Edmonton, some Canadians say they believe not enough is being done to stop dangerous dog attacks.
"I remember back in the '80s, maybe into the '90s, if your dog bit someone, your dog was taken away and destroyed," Tamara Dufour told The Current's Matt Galloway. "I don't agree with that."
"But the pendulum has swung so far now that… that these dogs and these owners are allowed to re-offend and re-offend and re-offend."
In late March, a child in Toronto was taken to hospital with serious, life-altering injuries following a dog attack. A woman and her off-leash dog were inside a playground area when the dog allegedly "charged" through an open gate toward a child who was walking with their father, police said.
Two weeks later, an 11-year-old died in Edmonton after he was attacked by two large cane corso dogs, a breed of mastiff. Police attempted life-saving measures until emergency medical services arrived, but the child was declared dead on scene.
These incidents are prompting some calls not just for more enforcement of the law beyond municipal borders, but more proactive pet ownership too.
Dufour alleges that "every single one of those cases were preventable."
These attacks hit close to home for Dufour. On June 23, 2022, Dufour and her partner were on a mountain bike ride at Iroquoia Heights Conservation Area in Hamilton, Ont., when they came across a man with two big German shepherds.
Dufour said they got off of their bikes and moved off the side of the trail to avoid the dogs, but the owner couldn't control them. One of the dogs escaped the owner's grasp and attacked Dufour's leg. She needed 30 stitches to mend the injury.
Following the attack, Dufour said the German shepherds were designated as dangerous dogs by the municipality. She said the order required the dogs to be muzzled in public and specified that they can't be on extendable leashes, which make animals more difficult to control.
Responsible owners
One of the prevailing themes from the recent Toronto and Edmonton dog attacks is that it wasn't the first time those owners had gotten in trouble for their dogs' actions.
In Toronto, it was revealed that the woman charged in the dog attack was previously deemed an "irresponsible" owner of dangerous dogs and subsequently ordered evicted from her apartment, according to court records and her former landlord.
In Edmonton, the city said Animal Control peace officers had previously visited the house twice this year to investigate other complaints of dog attacks, prior to their killing of the 11-year-old. On Friday, they said animal control officers acted appropriately when investigating the two previous attacks.
"Prior to the fatality on April 1, 2024, the city had no lawful basis to remove the dogs from the home," the city said in a statement to CBC News.
Brian Pasmore, the founder and head dog trainer at K911 in Edmonton, said incidents like the one in Edmonton are sad and unfortunate, but they're not one-offs.
"There's a pattern of behaviour established" when dogs aren't trained properly, he told Galloway.
According to Pasmore, different breeds have different tendencies. Large, powerful dogs like cane corsos, for example, require significant obedience, early socialization and an owner who's good with setting rules and boundaries.
"That said … the vast, vast majority are very capable being good social members of the family and of the community through proper socialization and training," he said.
When buying a dog, owners should research the breed, make sure their lifestyle matches that of the dog's energy and temperament, and make sure they "have the skill set necessary — or at least [be] willing to learn the skill set necessary — to manage it," he said.
Dawn Rault, a lecturer at the Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology in Burnaby, B.C., agrees. Rault, whose research focuses on enforcing animal law, recalls a dangerous dog designation hearing she went to in Calgary.
At the hearing, the dog was said to have demonstrated aggressive and anxious behaviour. Yet, the dog's owners let their three young kids jump on the dog and even pull at its tail and testicles.
One of the children even required plastic surgery after he jumped on the dog while it was sleeping, causing it to bite him very severely in the face.
"At the hearing, the owners failed to take any responsibility or accountability or really see the severity of the incident," she said. And the dog … was seized, and it went through these appraisals and testing of its behaviour."
"It was deemed to have really concerning behaviour, but because the owner was not willing to, you know, have a fence, leash the dog, teach their children how to interact in a way that's appropriate with dogs, in the end this dog was ordered to be euthanized."
Had the owners taken responsibility for how the dog was treated, Rault said there would have been a different outcome.
"It comes down to responsible pet ownership," she told Galloway. "It comes down to people taking responsibility for owning their dogs and the behaviour of their dogs."
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Produced by Alison Masemann, Niza Lyapa Nondo and Ines Colabrese.
