The Spectator story:<\/strong><\/p>\nMolly Hayes Tue Feb 28 2012<\/p>\n
Judy Russ screamed for help as her small white dog was mauled to death Monday afternoon by a neighbour\u2019s German shepherd that had escaped from his fenced-in yard.<\/p>\n
Russ was walking Bandit, her bichon frise\/shih tzu cross along Elgar Avenue, where she\u2019s lived for more than 40 years. They were just steps from Russ\u2019s front lawn when the big dog appeared and lunged at Bandit.<\/p>\n
She tried to pull away, scooping up her small dog to shield him from the shepherd, which her neighbours on the west Mountain identified as Caesar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kept screaming and screaming \u2018Help me! Help me!\u2019\u201d she said, fighting back tears as she recounted the incident Tuesday at her home.<\/p>\n
But her fight was in vain. She was knocked to the ground and Caesar dragged Bandit away. A car eventually stopped and the driver gave Russ her cellphone to call for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kept saying \u2018He killed my baby, he killed my baby,\u2019\u201d Russ said.<\/p>\n
Bandit was four years old, and was cooed by Russ, her husband, Steve, and their grandson, Jacob, who\u2019s lived with the couple for six years.<\/p>\n
Caesar\u2019s owners are also devastated by the attack. The couple, who refused to give their names, said they\u2019d been asked not to contact the Russes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hearts go out to that woman and her family,\u201d he said. \u201cOur dog will not be returning home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caesar was seized by animal control and is currently in a 10-day quarantine. The agency is investigating the dog\u2019s history and said, depending on its findings, the dog could be released to the owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can tell you is every dog, regardless of breed, has a propensity to bite,\u201d said Jim Gillis, supervisor for Animal Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to look at the factors that cause them to bite. If there was a history, we might go to the courts and say it might be in the best interest to put the dog down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillis would not comment on the circumstances of the attack or reveal the name of Caesar\u2019s owner because the investigation is still under way.<\/p>\n
After the attack, Russ was treated in hospital for rope burn and bite injuries to her hands and arms. The owners were contacted by police after the attack and rushed home.<\/p>\n
The last they knew, the shepherd was locked in their back yard.<\/p>\n
Neighbours say they would often cross the street when they got to Caesar\u2019s house during dog walks. It would jump up against the tall, wooden fence its owners built.<\/p>\n
Susanne Gauder, who lives a few houses away, said she, too, was attacked by Caesar during a walk with her small dog, Macko, a few months ago. She was able to pick the dog up and protect it, but was bitten by the German shepherd before its owner was able to control it.<\/p>\n
She did not report the attack and said the owners apologized profusely.<\/p>\n
Bob Pyne lives across the street and said Caesar is a friendly dog. He would invite the dog and its owner over to play with his dog, Coal, in the back yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good owner,\u201d Pyne said of his neighbour. \u201cHe\u2019s good with the dog, he takes care of it, he walks it. He had an electric collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a bad situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
mhayes@thespec.com
\n905-526-3214<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So let’s see how much airplay\/newsprint this story gets, since the attacking dog clearly can’t be reported as a “pit bull”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13,7,3,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legislation","category-media","category-news","category-ontario","category-pit-bulls","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicobandido.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}