City seizes animals from Point Douglas area home after death of dog attacked by 3 others
Catherine Flynn says her dog, Carter, died Saturday after being mauled last week
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details and a graphic photo.
A Winnipeg woman says she's been left reeling by the death of her dog, who was attacked by three other animals in the Point Douglas area last week — an incident that prompted the city to seize the other dogs.
Catherine Flynn says she was walking her dog Carter, an 11-year-old greyhound mix, on Grove Street last Thursday when three other dogs pushed through a fence and came after her pet.
"I didn't know what to do. I just sat there screaming … as they're tearing my dog apart, quite literally."
Flynn says the owner of the other dogs came out a short time after and pulled them off Carter.
Her dog was still conscious and could still walk but seemed to be in a lot of pain, Flynn said. She took him home and rushed him to the vet, where Carter had emergency surgery.
He survived that and Flynn took him home to recover, but his condition had worsened by Saturday, she said.
"He actually bit me — like, hard — because I couldn't touch him. He was in so much pain and I was giving him his meds, but it clearly wasn't enough," she said.
Flynn said she took Carter back to the vet, where he had a heart attack and died.
"It was an awful lot for a senior dog. I mean, it really was too much for somebody his age."
CBC News saw animal service workers and Winnipeg police seize multiple dogs, including puppies, from a home in Point Douglas Thursday afternoon.
A city spokesperson confirmed that animal services had seized the dogs involved in the attack on Flynn and her dog, but could not comment further.
'I didn't want this to happen': owner
Rosa Akerstream confirmed she owns two of the dogs involved in the attack — a male and a female, who recently had puppies.
Akerstream said she thinks the male dog, King, was protecting the litter, but she's sorry for what happened.
"I didn't want this to happen and it happened, and there's nothing I could change from it happening," Akerstream said.
She said usually her gate would be locked, but somehow her dogs were able to push it open and get out.
She jumped in to stop the attack as soon as she realized what was happening, she said, and didn't realize how seriously Carter had been injured since he was able to get up and walk away.
Akerstream said her dogs normally aren't aggressive, and she's never had an incident with them before.
"[King is] a good dog, and I'm really sad that you would take my animal away, because I never had problems before."
Under Winnipeg's responsible pet ownership bylaw, a dog can be seized by animal services if it's been involved in more than one incident of biting a person or another animal, or if there are more than two incidences of the dog running at large or chasing a person or animal.
A dog can also be designated a "dangerous dog" under the bylaw if animal services concludes that it is likely to cause significant harm or injury to people or animals.
If a dog is deemed dangerous, its owner must meet a number of conditions, including ensuring the animal is kept securely confined indoors and out, and that it is muzzled and leashed when off the owner's property.
The city will only order a dog euthanized if it's declared an "exceptionally dangerous dog" — meaning animal services determines the dog has been involved in repeated biting or clawing attacks, or if the dog has engaged in "an exceptionally brutal attack" on a person or animal.
Akerstream said she hopes that won't happen.
"I don't think it's fair for them to put down all my animals."
Wider concerns
The attack on Flynn's dog has prompted others to speak out about how some dog owners in Point Douglas are keeping their pets.
Katherine Bitney says she often avoids certain houses because dogs will sometimes charge at their fences when she walks by. She thinks the neighbourhood is fed up with it.
"We're done. We're just done," she said. "And there's going to be a lot of fallout."
Flynn said the experience has been traumatic for her, and she's taken some time off work to recover.
"If I'm left alone, I just sit and cry," she said.
She said she doesn't want the other dogs destroyed, but does want some kind of action.
"They can't be allowed to be able to burst through fences and come at you when you're walking down a public sidewalk. That's just not right, you know?"
Meanwhile, Akerstream said she is going to fight to get her dogs back.
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With files from Cameron MacLean and Josh Crabb