Dog attack leaves pregnant woman injured and her dog dead; city scant on details

(WARNING: Some content in this story may be disturbing to readers.)

 

What started as a routine walk with her dog in the northeast Calgary community of Rundle on Sept. 17 quickly turned into an ordeal Aman Lamoureux will never forget.

"We hardly walked 100 metres away and one black dog came from an unfenced yard and sniffed my dog a bit and immediately became aggressive," she told CTV News.

"Then, the black dog jumped on me and made me fall down on my knees and snatched my dog away from me. All this happened in the presence of the dog owners."

Lamoureux says her four-year-old Morkie (Yorkshire Terrier/Maltese mix) Leo was severely injured in the attack and had to be put down as a result.

"Their dogs attacked my dog and were tearing his flesh apart from both sides," she said.

"My dog was in a critical situation and my first priority was to save his life."

Lamoureux says she spent nearly $7,000 on vet bills for surgery, but the vet gave Leo a less than 20 per cent chance of survival.

"I had to make the difficult decision to let him go and I did everything to save him," she said.

"My dog was my only support and now I'm feeling all alone."

Lamoureux is five months pregnant, with her husband away for work until the end of October.

She says Leo was her comfort when her husband was away, and now she's without hope.

"In this accident, I could have lost my own life and my unborn child as well," she said.

The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of 42 St. N.E. in the back alley.

Part of the incident was captured on camera by a neighbour, who helped Lamoureux to safety in his backyard.

In the video, a man and a woman can be seen in the unfenced yard, with Lamoureux trying to fend off the dogs with her walking stick.

She says she received two bites, one on her left-hand middle finger and one on her right knee.

She was also scratched on her legs.

The attack happened nearly two weeks ago and the City of Calgary's animal bylaw services have yet to provide CTV News with details about the incident, only saying it is being investigated.

In several emails spanning more than a week, CTV News has asked for information on the status of the dogs involved, whether they have been seized and whether charges are pending against their owners.

On Sept. 25, the city said in an email that bylaw officers "were trying to get in touch with the dog owner."

One neighbour who witnessed the event says he was scared by the incident unfolding behind his home.

"I was really shocked because it's happened a couple of times," said Sattar Khadeem.

"My kids have the basketball beside the garage in the back alley -- they play there in the summer."