Ben Madilynn
CLIFFORD – While Bowie the labradoodle may look friendly, Minto council has stood by his dangerous dog designation despite an appeal from the owner.
Affirmed at a special Minto council meeting Tuesday evening, an incident report created by bylaw enforcement officer Rick Hobbelink said Bowie was designated as a dangerous dog after he bit Drew resident Stella Wallace on her back leg while she was walking on Regency Drive in Clifford July 30, requiring 10 stitches and ongoing treatment.
The appeal hearing was attended by Bowie’s owner, Robert Rutherford and Wallace, who was supported by her husband Jim and daughters Julie Kerkhof and Cindy Lipsett who spoke on her behalf during the meeting.
In Minto, a dog can be deemed dangerous if it has attacked, bitten or caused injury to a person or has demonstrated a propensity, tendency or disposition to do so.
Clerk Annilene McRobb said Bowie is the only dog currently living in Minto deemed dangerous.
Following the bite, Wallace’s family said she’s been left unable to walk around her subdivision “out of fear of this dog” and is “struggling when seeing or even hearing other dogs” and is “emotionally shaken” by the incident and its ongoing aftereffects.
“Most neighbours have expressed they have long harboured fears related to this dog since learning of the attack,” said the family in the report, who noted that a bite resulting in 10 stitches is a “severe first occurrence.”
The report said this is Bowie’s first incident and the town doesn’t have records of another.
Emails from the family included in the report said Wallace’s bite became infected within a week of the incident and she was placed on antibiotics. When she continued to experience difficulty with wound healing, Wallace needed debridement and ongoing care with a wound specialist.
The continued lack of healing also resulted in her stopping her current cancer treatments, said the family.
Public Health has confirmed the dog was quarantined for 10 days post-bite and there are no concerns for rabies transmission.
Describing the incident in the report, Hobbelink said Rutherford “feels very bad about the incident” and he’s purchased a fence for the property to have it fenced in and the dog is always on a leash now when it’s outside.
According to Rutherford, he’s always had an invisible fence for his dogs but “it doesn’t stop the dog (that bit) from leaving the property.”
Hobbelink said he would follow up and do a fence inspection when it is completed to ensure it’s not something the dog can get out of.
Once designated as dangerous, owners must keep the dog humanely confined within the owner’s dwelling or in an enclosed pen and “securely attach” a muzzle to the dog when it isn’t.
They also must obtain and maintain public liability insurance coverage no less than $1,000 for any damage or injury caused by the dangerous dog, implant a microchip identifying a dog as a dangerous dog and display a sign at the entrance of the dog’s home that must be visible and legible from the nearest road or thoroughfare.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
