A Calgary woman is calling for change after an unleashed dog attacked her dog and killed her cat in the southeast community of Rangeview.
It happened on the afternoon of April 16 along Lavender Passage.
Laura Lang, 31, had her dog outside when an unleashed and uncollared dog crossed the road and attacked.
“Annie and this dog were fighting, like completely fighting, like knocked me on my butt,” she said.
She tried to get her pet into her basement suite to safety, but she wasn’t able to stop the other dog from getting inside.
“He pushed his way through, and I held on to his scruff as much as I could and it just wasn’t enough and he ran downstairs.”
In the basement, the dog started to attack her one-year-old cat, Sushi.
She tried to intervene but said the dog became aggressive toward her.
“I quickly ran upstairs and yelled, ‘Someone help me, please, someone help me’ and then I ran back downstairs, and I found my cat dead on the floor in a pool of blood. She was completely mutilated,” she said.
Lang called 911 who told her to lock herself in another room with her dog.
“The dog remained in my house for about 40 minutes until animal control could get here and I could hear him dragging around my dead cat,” she said.
“It’s horrifying to sit in a room and know I couldn’t do anything about it. That was terrifying.”
The City of Calgary confirms Community Safety is investigating the attack involving a Mastiff-type dog.
A man has been charged under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw with “animal causing death to another animal” and “animal running at large.”
“Community Safety has no prior history with this dog, and there have been no previous warnings or animal designations issued to the owner regarding its behaviour,” the city said in a statement.
“At this time, no final decision has been made regarding the future of the dog. The investigation is ongoing, and we are working to determine the appropriate course of action.”
Lang is disappointed the dog has been returned to the neighbourhood.
“It’s terrifying and I know that my dog is scared, too,” she said.
“This isn’t the first dog people have found unleashed. There are multiple dogs that roam the streets all the time and everyone is so frustrated.”
She believes the city needs to make changes to its animal bylaws to do more to prevent and deter situations like this from taking place.
“This has to end. Take responsibility for your animals because now my daughter has no cat,” she said.
The area councillor, Evan Spencer, said he is aware of concerns from residents in the area and is open to possible pet ownership changes.
“I am very open to the idea of thoughtful regulation that requires owners of bully breeds to go through more training and to maybe have to jump through another hurdle or two just to make sure they are fully bought in to living safely amongst their neighbours,” he said.
“But I do think there’s a real strong reason why we shouldn’t just demonize that breed as well.”
