If you have a dog, chances are you have a story.
“There was a lady that came here and pet my dog and her small dog got jealous and bit my dog,” said Frank Shen.
“Eight months old but it was a very strong puppy and it kind of grabbed onto his harness and didn’t want to let go,” said Lina Akselson.
Minor conflicts like that are not unusual, especially in public spaces. But sometimes it can get ugly.
“We had a very small dog attacked by a bigger dog and it actually ended up losing its eye,” said Don Brown, Capital Regional District (CRD) Animal Control Chief Bylaw Officer.
Those attacks are deemed significant. In a single month, CRD animal control will see an average of four to five of these attacks but last month was different as there were ten.
“Those are attacks with dogs on dogs or dogs on livestock or dogs on people. I would said May was a significant and an unusual month in my 16 years of experience,” said Brown.
Out of those ten, two of the dogs involved had to be put down. The rest were declared dangerous and now have to adhere to certain rules and restrictions.
“They have to have their dog muzzled at all times in public and it can never be at large,” said Brown.
Brown credits the spike in attacks to the weather and said because it was hot and dry, more people were out with their dogs.
He also makes it clear the attacks did not involve a specific breed and they didn’t happen in one specific area.
“All dogs can attack, all dogs can bite,” said Brown.
He said keeping your dog on a leash is a good way to minimize these types of conflicts.
“Unless you are at a dog park or an area you know it can run free without having those dog on dog conflicts or dog on person conflicts,” said Brown.
In his experience, he said most conflicts happen when the owner is not in control.
“Dogs that are well trained and obey their owners they tend not to be involved in attacks,” said Brown.
That’s something Kimya Tamehi and her fluffy dog Shilo are all too familiar with.
“I’ve seen owners that just don’t seem to care and they let their aggressive dog go and they can’t call them back and stuff. They will just run up to him and it will be too late the owner can’t even stop the dog,” said Tamehi.
Luckily they get a mouth full of fur and Shilo has never been injured but she’d rather just stay out of other dog’s mouths.
Luisa Alvarez
