Name: K
Victim: Pet, Senior
Location: Laneway and Street, Beaches, Toronto, Ontario
Year of attack: 2022
Tell us about the attack
On the evening of June 14th, 2022 my 70-year-old mother and her 9-year-old Schnauzer were out for their usual evening walk in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. At approximately 8 p.m. they took a turn down a laneway they often walked through.
My mother noticed a plastic temporary fence where two pit bulls ran back and forth barking at her. Before she knew what was happening, the pit bulls broke through the makeshift fence and launched an unprovoked attack on her and her Schnauzer. My mother tried to lift her dog into the air as the pit bulls snapped and bit at them both. My mother wasn’t strong enough to hold her dog in the air for very long: both she and the Schnauzer fell to the ground and the Schnauzer tried to run for her life. The pit bulls hunted the dog down and began mauling her, ripping at her throat.
Two grown men finally managed to get the pit bulls off and ordered my mom to “RUN!!”, which finally enabled my bleeding mother and her bleeding dog to flee.
How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
The Schnauzer had emergency surgery at a veterinarian to repair the damage to her neck and has lost her joyful spirit.
My mother went to hospital with puncture wounds on her hands, arms and legs. Her hands swelled, and there was a great deal of bruising all over. The trauma has changed her forever. She will no longer go for any sort of walk out of terror. She cries often and can’t sleep.
Legal Consequences
A few years previously, a concerned neighbour had reported the pit bulls to authorities. The pit bulls’ owner, a woman aged 20 to 40, at that time sought the help of a pit bull activist group for advice on how to shield her illegal pit bulls from the Breed Safety Laws protecting people in the province of Ontario from pit bulls. According to animal services, the pit bull owner was able to find a vet who allegedly deemed the pit bulls “other breeds”, thus evading the public safety laws.
Consequently, instead of the pit bull owner facing the full consequences of Ontario’s pit bull ban for the current attack, she has only been issued a Dangerous Dog Order.
What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Please don’t trust pit bulls. If they decide to turn on you or a loved one the outcome can easily be lethal.
I would never have imagined it was so difficult to get authorities that I previously trusted to take action against animals that are not only dangerous but also illegal.
