Accused in dog attack pleads not guilty
By Dan Singleton
Round Up
The woman charged after two Akita dogs attacked a man and a woman on a Didsbury-area acreage in July will go to trial in November.
Andrea Marie Strang pleaded not guilty before Commissioner Danny Elliott in Didsbury provincial court Friday to three charges under Mountain View County's animal control bylaw: two counts of allowing a dog to bite and one count of allowing a dog to cause damage to property.
On July 26, a 27-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, as well as their pet beagle, were returning home to their rental suite southwest of Didsbury when the Akitas, a male and a female, in the garage at the property attacked them, police say.
The female Akita lunged at the woman and when the man tried to intervene, the male dog attacked him.
Both the woman and the man suffered extensive bite wounds on their arms, torsos, hands and thighs.
Strang did not attend Friday's court session. Her lawyer, Roy Shellnut appeared on her behalf and entered the not guilty pleas.
Outside court, Shellnut said his client is very upset about the entire case.
“It's stressful for her and it's stressful for everyone. It's not that this doesn't upset her. How would it not upset her? However, there's a difference between putting your dogs down and saying you are guilty of some kind of negligence,” he said.
Asked what his defence strategy may be, Shellnut said, “They are bylaw offences so they are due diligence offences in terms of were you diligent. That's the kind of defence she would have to these. It's not like a criminal offence.”
Mountain View County bylaw officer Amanda Stuhl, who is the chief investigator in the case, said outside court that she expects about five witnesses, including the man and woman attacked, to be called at the November trial.
Stuhl says the man and the woman attacked by the dogs are still struggling to cope.
“Mentally they are still going through a lot, and emotionally. They are having nightmares. It's going to take a long time for not only the physical but the emotional wounds to heal,” she said.
Andrea Strang's trial will take place in Didsbury provincial court on November 18. She faces a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or six months in jail on each charge.
