Woman bitten by dog in Laval criticizes police response
Pascale Denis says despite suffering injuries, she wishes Laval police hadn't shot and killed the animal
A woman who was bitten multiple times by a dog in Laval earlier this week has criticized the way police handled the incident, saying she wishes they hadn't shot and killed the animal.
Pascale Denis said despite suffering injuries, she didn't want Laval police to go that far.
"I wanted them to tranquilize the dog. I didn't want them to kill it," Denis told CBC News on Friday.
A day earlier, Denis was at home when the dog — a bull terrier named Lola that Denis says was like a member of the family for two years, despite not being hers — turned violent.
It ran over to her bed, barked twice and began biting her arm, Denis said.
Police were called around 1:45 p.m., and arrived about 15 minutes later. By then, she had been bitten another time, Denis said, and the biting continued while the police were on the scene.
"The dog started running again, then bit me again. It jumped on my arm again and then my thigh; my thigh is injured, too," Denis said.
Laval police say that's when the dog was shot and killed.
Police are conducting an investigation into what happened, and they're also looking into whether the dog belonged to a resident of Laval.
Under the city's animal control bylaw, dog owners need a permit and their dogs must be sterilized.
With files from CBC's Navneet Pall