Owner knew dog that killed woman was dangerous

Coroner suggests province create registry listing injuries caused by bites

The dog that killed Christiane Vadnais in her backyard last year was so aggressive that his owner kept him muzzled even when the animal was alone inside the house.

Following the fatal attack on Vadnais last year, Franklin Junior Frontal told police that he muzzled his dog because he was concerned he might destroy things inside his home in Pointe-aux-Trembles, according to a coroner’s report on Vadnais’s gruesome death.

Although Frontal told police he owned the brown “pit bull” he called Lucifer, coroner Ethan Lichtblau said experts could not formally identify the dog’s breed.

DNA tests conducted in Washington State said the dog was 87.5 per cent American Staffordshire Terrier. Since last fall, it has been illegal in Montreal to acquire pitbull-type dogs like Staffordshire Terriers. Lucifer had been registered as a Boxer.

On the day she died, Vadnais had arrived home between 3:30 and 4 p.m. and likely went into her backyard to put out the garbage.

Unbeknownst to her, Lucifer had managed to get out of the house through a back door that wasn’t properly closed and got in her yard through a hole in the back fence.

During the attack, Vadnais, 55, received many bites to her legs and had deep cuts to many parts of her body.

Frontal told police that his dog was agitated and anxious around people he didn’t know.

When police officers arrived at the scene just after 5 p.m., the dog was wearing a harness and had a muzzle dangling from its neck.

A police officer who entered the backyard said the dog was agitated, was showing its teeth and not obeying orders. The officer struck the dog with a baton but then retreated after the animal began barking aggressively.

Another officer then shot the dog so they could approach Vadnais’s body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The coroner determined that she died from a severe loss of blood followed by cardiac arrest.

In his report, Lichtblau said that Frontal often left his dog outside in a cage for up to eight hours. “A lack of dog companions and lack of exercise led to a frustrated, aggressive and violent dog,” Lichtblau concluded.

About eight months before Vadnais was killed, Lucifer bit two friends who were visiting Frontal’s home when he wasn’t there. One was sent to a hospital after being bit on the arm and a second was bit in the thigh.

Lichtblau wondered whether Vadnais’s death could have been prevented if city of Montreal officials had done a proper follow-up after those attacks.

He also questioned plans to ban specific breeds like pit bulls, saying research shows that this type of legislation is not effective.

He suggested the province create a registry that lists all injuries caused by dog bites and said that municipalities should register all dogs on their territory each year. Cities should also set up animal control teams that can enforce local bylaws and he said more needs to be done to educate the public about dog safety and how to prevent dog bites.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre defended his pit bull bylaw Monday, saying it made people safer.

“Clearly that was killed by a pit bull, and I always have feelings for the Vadnais family,” Coderre said. “At the end of the day, of course not everyone liked it, but sometimes we have to make decisions and take the heat for it.”