Boy, 11, killed in dog attack at south Edmonton home: police

The south Edmonton home where an 11-year-old boy was attacked and killed by two large dogs on Monday had been visited twice pre‐ viously this year by Animal Control peace officers in‐ vestigating other complain‐ ts of dog attacks.

"In 2024, Animal Control peace officers responded to two attack complaints iso‐ lated to inside the private residence," a City of Edmon‐ ton spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday after‐ noon.

"One complaint is still un‐ der investigation while the other was concluded without charges."

In the past year, animal control officers also respon‐ ded to the same address for "multiple barking complaints which resulted in warnings and one ticket," the state‐ ment said.

Police are investigating the boy's death.

Officers responded to a report of a dog attack at a home in the area of 82nd Street and 11th Avenue S.W. around 8 p.m. Monday, the Edmonton Police Service said in a news release.

Police found a severely in‐ jured boy who "had been at‐ tacked by two very large dogs," the news release said.

WATCH | Boy who was attacked by dogs was visit‐ ing home, police say:

Police attempted life-sav‐ ing measures until emer‐ gency medical services ar‐ rived.

The child was declared dead on scene. An autopsy has been scheduled Wednesday.

Police said the child was visiting a home in the Sum‐ merside neighbourhood and that the dogs belong to a person who lives at the home.

The dogs were seized by Animal Control peace officers and are currently at the Ani‐ mal Care and Control Centre.

Edmonton city council boosted funding for address‐ ing animal-related issues and complaints in April 2023.

"Since then, the city has taken significant steps to ad‐ dress and investigate dog at‐ tacks and restricted dogs," the city said in its statement.

"A dedicated Animal Li‐ censing Team comprising five members was formed which now focuses on public educa‐ for tion regarding the impor‐ tance of licensing, restricted dog licensing and enforcing compliance with licensing regulations.

"A key aspect of their work involves monitoring and fol‐ lowing up on restricted and dangerous dogs (dogs with dog attack records), catego‐ rizing them separately and implementing measures to prevent future incidents."

Cheyenne Pozzolo lives just a few houses away and said she never saw the dogs, though she could occasional‐ ly hear them.

"The dogs didn't bark ex‐ cessively or anything like that and sometimes it would go weeks, you wouldn't even hear from these dogs," she said. "It was mostly summer time and it just sounded like they were playing with each other and then maybe one got a little angry and kind of snapped at each other. But even if they were fighting each other, the owners seemed to break it up pretty quickly."

She said it's a tragedy and a shock for the neigh‐ bourhood.

"My son walks to school and from school. So that's concerning that, you know? Not even just their dog, but any, any animal attack could happen now. That's in my mind. But being three houses down, that's pretty alarming."