Regina dog owner calls for small-dog sections of dog parks after mauling

Cheryl Tuharsky is calling for a change in Regina's dog parks after her pooch suffered life-threatening injuries Saturday.

Tuharsky said her dog Zoey was attacked by a bigger breed at the Cathy Lauritsen Memorial Off-Leash Dog Park.

Zoey, a 12-year-old Maltese poodle, had pre-existing health concerns and had a 50 per cent chance of survival after the attack, according to Tuharsky. She said Zoey pulled through and is in recovery.

"It happened and now we just move on and hope everybody heals from it," Tuharsky said.

'They could fence it off'

Tuharsky said she wishes there were separate areas in the park for small dogs only.

"They could fence it off to have a portion of it for the small dogs and if owners are comfortable they could bring their [small] dogs to the big dog park," Tuharsky said.

Barbara Lloyd owns a dog training school in Regina. She said she wants to see different areas in the parks not only for big and small dogs, but puppies as well.

"I've been to dog parks in other cities that are managed very well, they have volunteer organizations that police them and they work beautifully," Lloyd said.

Lloyd said some people don't understand the purpose of dog parks and they need to be very cautious about going.

"You don't take your dog to a dog park to socialize it, you take an already well-socialized dog to a dog park," Lloyd said.