A retired Keremeos couple is in mourning after their 22-month-old Scottish Terrier was attacked and killed by a larger dog on Canada Day.
The Scottish Terrier, named Isla, died of wounds it received when it was attacked by a large dog that came running out of a yard of the Keremeos home where it resides.
Isla’s owners, Bunny and Cathie Wells, said Isla was well known and beloved in the Keremeos community.
“We’ve been getting flowers, cards. She was just so well known,” said Cathie. “We’re very emotional, she was our baby.”
Keremeos RCMP Cpl. Chad Parsons told Black Press Media Isla was being walked on-leash by Bunny in a residential neighbourhood when she attacked by a larger dog.
Bunny said he had stopped to talk to the dog’s owner who was out in his front yard, when the large unleashed dog came running out of the back yard and attacked Isla.
Bunny described the incident as a horrific attack in which Isla was “ripped apart” in under a minute.
Bunny was also bit on both hands by the larger dog when trying to remove it from Isla. He required a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
Isla was rushed to a vet in Oliver, who made an attempt to stitch Isla back together but the family pet was rushed back to the vet under 24 hours later where she died.
Police and bylaw enforcement are both investigating the incident, said Parsons.
At present, bylaw has classified the larger dog as “aggressive,” meaning it must be kept in the house, or in a contained yard, or wear a muzzle when outside.
Bunny and Cathie would like to see the dog put down, as they believe it is likely to attack again.
If the larger dog’s classification is changed to “dangerous” it would be removed from the community, Parsons said.
Bunny and Cathie haven’t spoken to the larger dog’s owner since the attack, at the advice of the RCMP. But police told the Wells’ that the owner was offering to pay for vet bills for Isla, Cathie said.
When asked what she would say to the dog’s owner, Cathie was straight-forward.
“Well, it’s pretty bad, you should get rid of that horrible beast because once they attack like that it won’t stop,” she said.
“We’re devastated. Everybody that knows us and Isla, which is the majority of the town, is missing her badly.”
RCMP and bylaw will continue to investigate the incident which may be taken to court where the fate of the larger dog would be determined, said Cathie.
| Bunny Wells and his Scottish Terrier, Isla, who was killed when attacked by a larger dog on July 1, 2021. (Contributed) |
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