Dog to be euthanized after 4 people attacked at house party

A large-breed rescue dog that attacked four people at a house party this weekend is slated to be euthanized, after an assessment by bylaw officers.

RCMP teams and the BC Ambulance Service were called to a home in Colwood, on Vancouver Island, at 12:30 am Saturday for reports of multiple injured people.
They arrived to find 13 adults and children barricaded inside after the 140-pound dog turned violent.

The dog’s owners managed to secure the dog inside a bedroom at the residence but sustained serious injuries including bite wounds,” said Cpl. Chris Dovell in a statement issued to media.

The dog was removed from the home with assistance from police and a bylaw officer from Capital Regional Animal Control.

Four people were taken to hospital for treatment, and are expected to recover.

One “injured and heavily intoxicated” man was arrested after removing his shirt and trying to fight the attending officers, according to RCMP.

The rescue dog, described by Capital Regional District bylaw staff as a pit bull-mastiff cross, had only been owned by the family since the summer, and it had no previous run-ins with the animal.

After a behavioural assessment, the district says the dog is too much of a danger to public safety to be returned to the owners.

“Because of the seriousness of the attack and we don’t know the history of the dog,” said Don Brown, chief bylaw officer at Capital Region District. “We’re really concerned about public safety.”

The dog will likely be put down in the next 24 hours, he added.

Overseeing bite complaints for nine municipalities in the Victoria-area, Brown says the breed of the animal makes no difference.

“Obviously, pit bulls are big and when they bite it’s going to be worse than when a chihuahua bites. But they all bite. Jack russell [terriers] have a very strong bite,” he told Daily Hive.

Police say the attack was prompted by some roughhousing between two drunk men at the party, “where it appears the dog was bumped into and became aggressive.”

Brown adds that people at the party were playing “war-type shooter video games” and drinking and contributing to a chaotic environment inside the home.