THUNDER BAY -- The Crown has asked to call a rebuttal witness in the the trial against a city man in a dog bite incident, a move that led to the case being adjourned until November.
Frank Vantroba, 59, faces a charge of criminal negligence causing bodily harm after his Old English bulldog allegedly bit a young boy in the face on Nov. 17, 2012 at Tarbutt Park.
The trial was supposed to wrap up Thursday at the Thunder Bay Courthouse after cross-examination of Vantroba and closing submissions. However, the Crown attorney Deb Kinsella asked to recall up to two witnesses – Thunder Bay Police Service officer Const. Jeff Elvish and animal services officer Christopher Johnson.
Due to the unavailability of at least one of the witnesses, the trial was adjourned to Nov. 10.
Kinsella said she felt it was necessary to recall at least Elvish because Vantroba’s testimony of his interaction with the officers on Nov. 18, 2012 was markedly different than what they said in their testimonies.
Vantroba’s lawyer Michael Hargadon said he didn’t see the need to recall the officers because he didn’t seek to undermine or impeach them through his line of questioning. He also said he found their evidence helpful to his defense.
Through testimony heard throughout the trial, it’s alleged that Dante Mekanak, 13, jumped into the boarded rink area in Tarbutt Park while racing his friend. He didn’t notice there was a man and four dogs inside the rink area until he was in the area himself and as he was running across, a large bulldog ran toward him and then jumped up and bit the boy on the face, requiring Dante to receive 65 stitches.
Vantroba said he was training his four dogs – an adult male, adult female and two puppies – inside the rink at the time of the incident.
It’s alleged the accused did not offer assistance to the boy.
Vantroba testified on Wednesday that he did not see any blood and Dante had his face covered during their brief exchange after the incident.
On Thursday during her cross-examination, Kinsella asked Vantroba if Big Brown, the dog in question, was the alpha of the pack of four dogs he owned in November 2012. Vantroba said he was; Big Brown was an adult male purebred Old English bulldog.
Vantroba told the court he had no concerns about keeping the dogs away from children and believed Big Brown was beside him the during the incident. It wasn’t until he heard the dog running, he noticed he was gone and from his perspective, he didn’t see any contact between Dante and Big Brown.
Vantroba said he saw a scratch above one of Dante’s eyes and realized there was some contact, but thought to himself that it was fortunate it wasn’t any worse. He said he thought Dante had covered his mouth as a protective gesture.
The accused also testified he didn’t ever ask Dante if he was OK, to see under his hands or offer his name or other information in case the Mekanak family wanted to follow up on the incident.
