http://www.windsorstar.com/Dangerous+sought+after+vicious+attack/1981160/story.html
'Dangerous' tag sought after vicious dog attack
By Dalson Chen
The Windsor Star
September 10, 2009
WINDSOR, Ont. -- A dog that was responsible for a vicious attack on a teenage girl in east Windsor last weekend is being designated by the Humane Society as “dangerous.”
“It had her by the arm,” said William Green, a neighbourhood resident who witnessed the attack. “The bone was visible.... She had chunks of her own flesh on her clothes. She was in shock.”
The incident happened around 4 p.m. on Saturday in the 2600 block of Jos St. Louis Avenue.
Windsor police said the dog — a six-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever — bit the victim deeply on her right forearm. The severity of the injury required her to be rushed to hospital by ambulance.
Nancy McCabe, manager of field operations for the Windsor and Essex County Humane Society, said on Thursday that her agency is in the process of deeming the dog “dangerous” under city bylaws.
“What will happen is there will be restrictions put on the dog,” McCabe said.
The restrictions include: having the dog microchipped; having $1 million liability insurance on the dog; and keeping the dog muzzled whenever it is off the owner’s property.
McCabe said the dog remains under the owner’s care.
On Thursday night, the dog was visible on a chain in the backyard where the attack occurred.
An unidentified man sitting in the backyard said the family did not want to comment about the situation.
According to police, the 16-year-old female victim does not live at the address. She was visiting the teenaged son of the family.
“They were in the backyard,” said Sgt. Brett Corey, reading from the responding officer’s report on the incident. “She went to retrieve a purse or something and hand it to (her boyfriend), and that’s when the dog locked onto her arm.
Green said he was in his backyard when he heard the girl’s screams. “I thought maybe it was a domestic dispute,” Green said. “It went on and on.” Green said that when he realized there was more to the commotion, he climbed over the fence dividing the properties and saw the dog with its jaws around the girl’s arm.
He said he kicked at the dog to make it let go. “It came at me.”
Green said the animal’s owners managed to get hold of it at that point, so he called 911 while caring for the female victim.
Green said he feels the dog is a problem in the neighbourhood. He said he’s called police and the Humane Society about it previously.
“I’ve complained to every agency in the city about this dog.... If anybody took any action before, this might not have happened,” Green said. “The dog runs loose.”
Another neighbourhood resident, who didn’t want his name published, agreed with Green. He said he also saw the girl’s injury. “It was pretty bad. I looked away because it kind of grossed me out,” he said. “Her arm was ripped.”
“It’s a bad dog.”
McCabe said she doesn’t know if the Humane Society has been called about the dog before.
McCabe said she thinks the dog’s behaviour was “odd for that breed, because they’re usually pretty good dogs.”
McCabe didn’t have details about the girl’s condition.
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