THUNDER BAY -- A man accused of criminal negligence in a dog-bite trial has been found not guilty.
Frank Vantroba, 59, faced charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and unlawfully causing bodily harm after his Old English bulldog allegedly bit a young boy in the face on Nov. 17, 2012 at Tarbutt Park.
On Friday afternoon, he was found not guilty on both counts by Justice Doug Shaw, who said the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that there had been a wanton reckless disregard for the safety of others or there was a marked or significant difference in Vantroba’s actions that day from a reasonably prudent person.
Through testimony heard throughout the trial in October, it’s alleged that Dante Mekanak, 13, jumped into the boarded rink area in Tarbutt Park while racing his friend on the day of the incident.
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.
He had owned the dog in question, Big Brown, for about a year prior to the incident in Tarbutt Park and the animal had no history of aggression with people or other animals.
He described Big Brown as weighing around 100 pounds and being about 90 centimetres tall.
Defence lawyer Michael Hargadon said the case was difficult for everyone involved, including the investigating police officers, Vantroba and Dante.
“Mr. Vantroba’s sympathies and the sympathies I’m sure of all of the city of Thunder Bay are with Mr. Mekanak as a result of his injuries. The difficulty in this case is the criminal law in Canada does not punish accidents,” he said.
“It punishes conduct that is morally blameworthy and that was the essence of the decision that was handed today.”
Justice Shaw said there was no question Dante was seriously injured and there were questions about Vantroba’s actions after the incident.
The accused had testified during the trial that all he saw was a scratch above Dante’s eye and that he didn’t see any blood as Dante had his face covered with his sweatshirt.
In his decision, the judge said that even if Vantroba truly regarded that as a scratch, he should have offered assistance to the boy instead of leashing the dogs and returning to his residence.
Dante had been visibly hurt and shielded his face.
But despite that, the judge said there was no evidence to suggest Big Brown had been aggressive in the past; there were no complaints registered against the animal to the city’s animal services department and no witnesses were brought forward to say the animal had ever been aggressive.
The dog also had a good track record of following commands and although Vantroba had a history of training police dogs, he trained Big Brown as a pet.
The judge also said Vantroba brought the dogs to the park when there was no one else around until Dante unexpectedly appeared in the rink area.
During the trial, the court heard that the city issued Vantroba with a restraint order on Big Brown on Nov. 20, 2012.
On Oct. 22, 2013, Vantroba voluntarily surrendered Big Brown to animal services where he was euthanized. New homes were found for the other three dogs.
