A Sault man is upset as he waits for authorities to locate the owner of a pit bull that he says attacked his dog.
His pet later died of its injuries.
Bruce Eddy says he was walking his golden retriever Jasmine and a puppy in the Hillside Drive area on the evening of October 6.
Eddy then saw three pit bulls coming toward himself and his dogs.
The puppy escaped unharmed from two pit bulls, while a third pit bull attacked Jasmine, said Eddy.
“The pit bull had Jasmine on the road, and clamped on to her throat. I grabbed the pit bull off my dog, then she (the attacking dog’s owner) came running, grabbed the dog out of my hands . . . I turned around and looked at my dog and she was bleeding, I helped her up and brought her home,” Eddy told SooToday.
Despite veterinary care, the golden retriever died two weeks later, said Eddy.
After the attack, Eddy said he saw the pit bull owner, who was staying at a nearby home at the time, pack the three pit bulls into a vehicle and drive away.
He said he has not seen her since, but believes she is still living in the Sault.
Eddy said his girlfriend Pamela was told by city police to contact the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society as it was a dog-related matter, and an officer from the agency attended the scene.
The Humane Society officer, Eddy said, told him the organization was familiar with the dogs.
Eddy said the Humane Society informed him it has had difficulty locating the pit bull’s owner because she has no fixed address.
“What are these guys waiting for, a little girl or boy to get bit or mauled?” Eddy said.
He said he has contacted the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society and the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service more than once, and has also consulted the city’s legal department for advice, and is weary of waiting for the woman to be located and served with a summons to appear in court.
“Everybody who hears my story is sympathetic . . . I can’t believe the police don’t want to get involved, the Humane Society has failed, dropped the ball and not doing their job,” Eddy said.
“What am I supposed to do, go and capture these dogs myself?”
“The system is failing.”
In 2005, Ontario put a ban on pit bull ownership.
The ban made it mandatory for all pit bulls in Ontario to be spayed or neutered, and leashed and muzzled while in public.
The strategy is to eventually remove all pit bulls from Ontario by keeping them from breeding, and to keep more pit bulls from coming into the province.
“The only thing I can do is go and complain at a city council meeting on a Monday night or see (Sault MPP) David Orazietti and ask him ‘Is there or isn’t there legislation out there about pit bulls?,'" said Eddy.
SooToday's calls to Cindy Ross, Humane Society manager, were not returned.
Jeffrey King, city solicitor/prosecutor, confirmed “there is an open investigation and the Humane Society is involved in it,” but declined further comment.
City police say they are aware of the incident, but will only step in if asked.
“I can’t comment on something that would be an active investigation because there’s another agency that’s responsible for it. We’re aware of it and we would certainly assist other organizations if they ask for help, but it’s for them (the Humane Society) to comment on,” said Sean Sparling, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service deputy chief.
“From a policing standpoint we can certainly enforce the Dog Owners’ Liability Act if we had to, but we have a Humane Society in our community that has taken that responsibility, so it’s really their responsibility to conduct this investigation,” Sparling said.
A 55-year-old Quebec woman was mauled to death by her neighbour’s dog, believed to be a pit bull, in June.
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