Council here upheld a dangerous dog designation imposed after two Palmerston residents had to euthanize their pet following an attack by a German Shepherd.
Minto council held a hearing on Nov. 17, after Carole Fell appealed the designation which was placed on her dog, Daisy, after it attacked a Shih Tzu named Maggie, owned by Bill and Sandra Cheeseman in Palmerston on Sept. 15.
The designation compels the owner to comply with a number of conditions, including:
– signing their property;
– muzzling the animal when it is not confined;
– maintaining a $1 million liability insurance policy against damage or injury caused by the dog; and
– permitting the insertion of a microchip in the dog for identification purposes.
“We were walking home. There was no provocation from Maggie. It was unprovoked on her part,” Bill Cheeseman told council. “This lady’s dog was barreling across Norman street, I picked Maggie up, tried to protect her somehow, but she knew something was happening as well and she squirmed, got out of my hands, landed on the ground and that’s when this huge dog attacked her.”
Following the attack, the Cheeseman’s elected to euthanize the dog after taking it to a veterinary clinic, where they were told it was unlikely to fully recover from internal injuries.
Bill Cheeseman said the incident had a major impact on his wife.
“We were without a dog. Sandy, she was up for two weeks and couldn’t sleep at night. She just couldn’t get used to the fact that – ‘Where’s our little dog?”
Fell did not attend the hearing, which was rescheduled from an earlier suggested date, which she had been unable to attend.
In her letter of appeal, Fell pointed out she had not seen the incident.
“On walking to my vehicle I let go of Daisy’s leash and she ran off barking and was back almost immediately, followed by a man shouting,” Fell wrote. “When I understood what he was shouting about I took hold of his dog and checked it over as I was concerned, and pointed out that there were no obvious marks, bites, damp or displaced fur (which I would expect If the dog had been bitten).”
Bill Cheeseman disputed Fell’s account, stating she did not approach them or check out the dog.
“Carole Fell stayed behind her car and made no effort to call her dog back made no effort to come out to apologize or see how Maggie was doing, she just hid behind the car,” he stated.
Fell indicated in her letter her dog has no history of aggressive behaviour.
“I feel that I must point out that Daisy has been raised on a farm with dogs, cats, hens and other animals and we have never had any problems. She has also never been a problem with children, She is a shepherd cross and very vocal. The girls that used to live next to us in Palmerston would play with Daisy and walk her around.”
Councillor Ron Elliott asked if the German shepherd approached the Cheesemans at all and were advised it did not.
Given the dog did not threaten the humans involved, councillor Mary Lou Colwell suggested the dangerous dog designation might be “a little too severe.
“Is there any way to force Ms. Fell to always keep a muzzle on her dog when it was out of the home, but without all the other stipulations?” Colwell wondered.
CAO Bill White explained it was within council’s purview to modify the restrictions.
“All the people we’ve talked to about this experience have said, ‘What if that had been a child and this dog took it upon itself to bite a child?’” Bill Cheesman interjected.
Liability a concern
“I think the big thing is when we get down to liability. The staff have looked at it and made recommendations. I think, as this council, we have to be very careful of overturning, or continuing to overturn these things, a little bit,” said Mayor George Bridge. (In July of 2015, council cancelled a dangerous dog designation resulting from another dog-on-dog incident on a Minto township farm. In that case, the dog that ws attacked survived.)
Councillor Dave Turton agreed it would not be wise to overturn the bylaw officer’s decision.
“I think this is a fairly dangerous dog. It was unprovoked and I agree if it had have been a kid, on Halloween night or whatever, it would have been totally different … If she wants to keep the dog she needs to look after it. If we break the rules a little bit and make it a little more lenient for her, we’ll be doing it all the time,” said Turton.
“I just feel bad the dog is going to pay the price for the owner’s irresponsibility. It’s not the dog’s fault,” said councillor Jean Anderson.
A recommendation to uphold the designation was approved unopposed.
