A woman who was attacked by a small dog as she greeted customers at a Home Depot store in Gloucester says she wants the dog to be put down after it bit off the tip of her nose.
Anne Riel was greeting customers at the Cyrville Road store Friday afternoon when a woman walked in with her pet Shih-Tzu sitting in her shopping cart.
Riel greeted the woman and bent down to pet the dog. That's when the medium-sized dog jumped at her face, biting off the tip of her nose.
"I just slightly bend down and the dog literally jumps out of the cart and full-fledge bite on my nose," Riel told CTV Ottawa.
Riel screamed for help. She was taken to hospital where doctors stitched her skin back together. She has already undergone some plastic surgery and will need more.
"There are bottom fang holes inside the nose. The top part is where the teeth (went in) and there was a whole chunk missing," Riel said.
Experts say while a dog might behave well with its owner, that's not always the case in public. And putting the dog on higher ground, such as in a shopping cart, might trigger more aggressive behaviour.
"Being up higher like that and someone coming over and reaching over the dog; the dog sees that as a challenge to his position," said dog trainer Randy Chartrand.
Although Home Depot has a policy against allowing pets in the store, that policy is not always enforced. A manager says that is under review.
Ottawa bylaw officers are now investigating the case to determine if the dog should be destroyed.
"We're going to look at the prior history. We're also going to look at the severity of the situation. And when you do look at this, this is an individual that needed quite a bit of medical attention and may actually be scarred for life," said Susan Jones, chief of Ottawa's bylaw services.
Bylaw officials have already met up with Riel. She says the dog's owner was issued a $610-fine and the dog must also be muzzled. Riel is now looking for a lawyer to seek legal action against the dog owner.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
