Stittsville resident wants bylaw review after separate dog attacks that killed dog, injured child

Warning: Some details in this story are graphic and may be disturbing to some readers.

A Stittsville resident is raising questions about the city of Ottawa's bylaw response after her neighbour's pit bulls attacked her dog and one of them later injured a 12-year-old boy.

In December, Stefanie Booth's eight-year-old dog Dexter was attacked and killed by her neighbour's dogs after they broke through a locked fence.

"The female grabbed him by the neck and just lock-jawed around him," said Booth.

Booth rushed her dog to a 24-hour emergency vet, where the doctor tried to save him. Unfortunately, Dexter didn't make it.

"Blood started pouring out of his mouth. She checked his heart, and it was slowly going down, and she said, 'I don't think he's going to make it.' So I had to make the decision right then to put him down," Booth said, crying.

Last Friday, one of the same neighbour's dogs attacked a 12-year-old boy in the neighbourhood. The child has severe injuries and had to undergo nine hours of surgery at CHEO.

"He has over 200 staples in his face. His skull got ripped open," Booth said.

Booth is concerned that the dog involved in Dexter's attack remains in the home.

Ottawa Bylaw is in the process of euthanizing the dog involved in the attack on the boy, but the other dog remains with the owner.

"We have taken possession of the animal, it was surrendered to us by the owner," said Roger Chapman, Director of Bylaw and Regulatory Services. “The previous incident in December resulted in the owner of the animal refusing to surrender the dog to us. So this has forced the city to go into dog owners liability, which there's a legislative process that we have to follow but we are seeking destruction of that animal before the courts.”

Booth hopes that the city will take a closer look at their bylaw response and make changes to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

She says the second incident involving the child could have been prevented.

"When I saw his face, it shattered me. He's just so strong, and his face is going to be scarred for the rest of his life," Booth said.