Dog owners concerned after meat packed with glass, blades left in yards
Quebec dog owners worried about animal, family safety following injuries
Two Quebec dog owners are worried after their dogs were injured in their own yards as a debate around banning pit bulls rages on after a recent string of maulings.
Stephanie Bergeron was shaken after her pit bull found and munched on ground beef laced with drugs and chunks of glass from a lightbulb.
Vanille, the family dog, ate the meat after finding it in Bergeron's backyard in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines last Thursday.
The next day in Montreal, Pierre Szalowski had a similar experience when his rescue dog Moli discovered a meatball with two Exacto blades embedded in it.
Both dogs required emergency care and now the families are concerned for their dogs and their own safety.
"It's not just the dog that you attack, you attack me, you attack all my family and that's not cool," Bergeron said.
Similar situations, similar outcomes
Both dogs were attacked using food as bait in places their owners expected to be safe.
Vanille was given charcoal by a veterinarian in order to clear her system of the drugs and glass, according to Bergeron. The visit was $300, in addition to the cost of replacing Bergeron at the daycare she runs out of her home.
Moli, Szalowski's dog, underwent emergency surgery to remove the two blades. The operation left Moli with a long scar down her stomach and her owners with a nearly $3,000 bill.
It is hard to track how common these types of attacks are but the current climate around dogs play a role, according to Montreal SPCA spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska.
Montreal, Quebec City and a number of other cities around Quebec recently announced pit bull bans in the wake of the mauling of Montreal resident Christiane Vadnais, who was found dead in the backyard of her home.
Families feel uneasy
Both families turned to their local police forces following the attacks.
- Neighbour describes dog attack on woman killed in her backyard
- Family of Montreal woman mauled by dog wants Quebec-wide pit bull ban
Szalowski filed a report with the Montreal police but he said he was told that it was unlikely anything was going to come of it due to lack of evidence and witnesses. An investigation is underway.
Bergeron said she was turned away entirely by Ste-Anne-des-Plaines police for the same reasons.
Since the attack, Bergeron has felt uneasy about her family's safety. As a mother of three daughters, she wonders what would have happened if one of her children had discovered the glass and drug-laced beef.
For Szalowski, the garden is no longer a secure place for his pets.
"Now [the dogs] never go alone in the garden," Szalowski said. "So it changes the whole feeling of our happiness in the garden.
"We hope that with the time and with the help of the police it will change."