Dog deemed dangerous after attack leaves Kelowna pet owner with $3,000 vet bill – Kelowna News
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Kimberlee Brown says she is traumatized after her dog was attacked recently.
The single mother was walking her six-year-old Shar Pei along Primrose Road on Monday, November 13 at about 7:15 p.m., when another dog came rushing at them and attacked Astro.
“We were walking down the street and a dog from out of nowhere came from a driveway and ripped the front chest area of my dog. He spent the night in surgery,” explained Brown, who says Animal Control was called to the scene.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan told Castanet that following an investigation, the dog that mauled Astro has been deemed a dangerous dog under the Responsible Dog Ownership Bylaw.
Here’s what the bylaw states about dangerous dogs:
- When a Dangerous Dog is outside its Owner’s House or Dwelling Unit and not kept within a closed vehicle, the Owner shall:
- keep the Dangerous Dog controlled on a leash securely held and a muzzle tightly fastened; or
- keep the Dangerous Dog within a locked enclosure incapable of being accessed by the public or children and in accordance with Schedule ‘C’.
- An Owner of a Dangerous Dog shall post a sign visible to the public at the front and back of his or her property warning that a Dangerous Dog resides on the property in accordance with Schedule ‘F’ of this Bylaw.
- An Owner of a Dangerous Dog shall obtain a microchip and provide the Regional District with identification proof that a microchip has been implanted. A microchip shall be implanted within 15 days of Declaration’.
Brown says she is now afraid to walk in her neighbourhood.
“I’m terrified. If I walk by the house it happened at, my heart just races. I’m scared, and I’ve never been scared in my life.
“And then I have a $3,000 vet bill that I have to pay. And they have to put a microchip in their dog. It’s just so unfair.”
Astro’s recovery is going slower than expected. While half of his stitches held, stitches popped out of part of his wound and the skin started to die. Brown says the veterinarian told her to use water therapy to try to aid the healing.
“It’s a big, awful hole in his chest,” says Brown, who has to take Astro back for a check up this week. In the meantime, she is left with little recourse to get compensation other than to take the other dog owner to court.
While Brown is glad Animal Control has done something, she notes this is the second offence for the animal in question. She’s concerned it could happen again.
“We’re next to a park. I don’t believe that dog should be in this area. I think the dog should need to be removed,” she says. “I don’t believe it should be put down, but I believe it should be removed from the area.”
Brown has set up a Go Fund Me to help cover her mounting vet bills.
