A woman whose Akita dogs attacked and severely wounded two people in Mountain View County in July 2011 has been fined $1,700 after a trial in Didsbury provincial court on Friday.
Andrea Marie Strang, 34, was convicted of two charges under Mountain View County's animal control bylaw of allowing a dog to bite a person and allowing a dog to cause damage to property.
On July 26, a 28-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, as well as their pet beagle, were attacked when they entered a garage that was attached to the man's rental suite outside Didsbury. Strang was a tenant in a separate part of the residence.
Testifying for the Crown, Geoffrey Brotherton described a horrific unprovoked attack that left him with more than 600 stitches to his legs, hands and arms.
“Out of nowhere there was a sharp pain in my leg,” he said. “He (the male dog named Diesel) was biting my leg and tearing at it. I was yelling at him to stop and I started hitting him. He kept sinking his teeth harder and harder and tearing.”
At the same time the female dog (named Cinder) attacked Brotherton's girlfriend, Becky Stewart.
“I was screaming at Becky to fight for her life. I kept fighting and screaming and Becky kept fighting. I was fighting for my life.”
He said he managed to grab a 20-kilogram bar and began striking the male dog with it.
“I didn't care about the dog's life by that time. I hit him between the eyes and it didn't faze him,” he said.
After he saw his girlfriend manage to get into a vehicle in the garage, Brotherton backed out of the garage and slammed the door, he said.
Neighbours, who heard screaming, then arrived at the scene and began helping him with his wounds, which included severe wounds to his hands, forearms and legs.
Becky Stewart testified that the female dog bit her arms, legs and chest, causing severe puncture wounds and other injuries.
“I was screaming,” she said. “She (female dog) was shaking my arm like a piece of spaghetti. I tried everything to knock her back but she wouldn't stop. I hear Geoff shouting, ‘keep fighting, keep fighting'. I could hear him screaming.”
Stewart's dog was also attacked by the female dog. She suffered severe cuts and lacerations to her back and other parts of her body.
Testifying in her own defence, Strang said she had earlier told Brotherton and Stewart that her dogs, which both weighed about 60 kilograms, were an aggressive breed towards other dogs and that they should “please be careful because I don't want anything to happen.”
“I expressed my concern to Becky about her having a little dog. I did not think for a second that they would attack,” she said.
Defence lawyer Roy Shellnut argued that Strang's earlier warnings about the dog's being an aggressive breed showed due diligence.
Crown prosecutor Jim Hittle told Commissioner Danny Elliott that Strang failed to do enough to ensure her dogs were unable to attack anyone in the common garage area.
“Everything was left up to the dogs whether they would attack,” he said. “This is anything but due dilegence. Something more had to be done than a simple warning, more than a passing warning. You cannot leave the decision to the dogs and hope for the best.”
Calling the dogs' actions “unilateral self-imposed freakouts”, Commissioner Elliott agreed with the Crown that Strang did not show due diligence.
Elliott fined Strang $200 on the damage property (the beagle) charge and $1,500 on the allowing dog to bite charge.
Outside court, Mountain View County bylaw officer Amanda Oling said the verdict should send a message dog owners need to ensure their animals are properly supervised and controlled.
