The owner of a dog alleged last to have mauled a neighbour’s Yorkshire Terrier puppy to death in the now faces some hefty fines in court.
In addition, the suspect dog must be kept on a leash and muzzled at all times in public.
City manager of licensing and enforcement Ron Bourret on Monday said a restraint order was issued through his department after the dog, deemed to be running at large, last Thursday squeezed under a fence separating the two properties and grabbed the puppy in its teeth and killing it.
The larger dog, which the victim’s owner believes to be a Husky breed, must also be kept contained it its own yard.
“If that’s not done, then we can certainly charge the person with failing to comply with an order and that would come before provincial offenses court, with a fine of up to $5,000,” Bourret said, noting that even though the dog owners thought their pets were contained on a fenced-in property, it’s up to them to absolutely ensure their pet can’t escape.
He added the owner of the suspect dog has indicated they plan to appeal the restraint order, likely meaning a January court date.
The restraint order isn’t the only legal issue facing the owner of the suspect dog, who has not been publicly identified.
“The second matter is we are proceeding with charges against that same dog owner for letting his dog run at large. We will certainly be approaching the courts for a very stiff penalty, much as we did two weeks ago when we received a $4,000 fine,” Bourret said.
In that case another dog attacked a smaller dog, injuring it in the process.
The charges will be laid in provincial offences court, and could net the dog owner up to $5,000 in fines.
Bourret said the matter is still under investigation, so no decision on the fate of the suspect dog has yet been made.
“We have to look at the history of that animal, we have to look if there’s been any other type of behaviour, like attempted attacks. If yes, then we could decide to go under the Dog Owners Liability Act and we may also look at charges under the attack dog (legislation),” Bourret said.
The message to dog owners, he added, is that people are responsible for the actions of their dogs, and while there are things that might agitate the animal, owners must ensure they don’t harm anyone or anything.
“We’re conscious that people have to take more responsibility,” he said.
Sylvain Bernard, whose mother owned Roxy, the Yorkshire terrier that was killed, said he's pleased the city is taking action, but expressed concern his mother's neighbour has yet to do anything about the fence and is worried about the family's other dog, a 10-year-old bichon.
