Owner convicted for severe dog mauling
LONGUEUIL, QUE. — A Quebec man whose dog mauled a young girl acted irresponsibly and disregarded the law as well as the safety of others, a judge said Thursday in convicting him of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Karim Jean Gilles had been on trial south of Montreal earlier in the week and faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Quebec court Judge Pierre Belisle said Gilles “acted irresponsibly” and “should have foreseen the consequences of his inaction.”
The judge said the accused didn’t care about the law or the safety of others.
On Monday, the girl’s mother testified that one of Gilles’ two dogs attacked her daughter Vanessa in the face in September 2015 and dragged her several metres across a park.
Magdalena Biron said the attack left Vanessa with fractures to the cranium and hand, as well as a cheekbone broken in seven places. She still has scars on her face.
In a brief statement on the last day of his trial, the accused suggested to Belisle his animal might have been provoked. Belisle rejected the claim. “That argument is without merit,” the judge said Thursday. “(Gilles) knew his dogs were dangerous and he didn’t take any measures to prevent them from going after someone.”
The dogs weren’t wearing collars the day of the attack and were not leashed, Belisle said. The accused’s property was not adequately fenced in and he didn’t have the ability to subdue the animals, the judge added.
Vanessa’s father, Bernard Biron, told reporters earlier in the week the attack left his daughter unable to eat solid food for months.
“She had to go to school with a device connected to her veins because her brain was infected,’’ he said. “Because her skull was crushed in the back and the saliva of the dog infected her system.’’
Sentencing arguments will occur at a later date.