Attack spurs Hudson to ban dogs at Sandy Beach
The town of Hudson has banned all dogs at its popular Sandy Beach after a resident was attacked this week by what he described as a “pit bull-type” dog.
The town, about 60 kilometres west of Montreal, announced the ban in a statement released Thursday.
It said the ban will be in effect until further notice and applies to all dogs, whether owned by residents or visitors.
“This action is being taken to ensure the safety and security of all Hudsonites,” the town said. Hudson Mayor Jamie Nicholls could not be reached for comment Friday.
The resident whose complaint spurred the ban, Greg Baumeister, posted about the incident on Facebook earlier this week. Baumeister wrote he was walking the shoreline Wednesday afternoon, about five feet into the water, when he was attacked.
“A pit bull-type dog decided that I was a threat and made a run for me,” he wrote.
“Despite being on a 10-foot leash, the animal managed to pull from the owner’s control and put four good-sized holes in my arm before being pulled off.”
In the post, he called on Hudson town council to act and fix the situation.
The town’s municipal bylaws currently allow dogs at the beach as long as they’re kept on a leash.
In an interview Friday, Baumeister, 61, said he tried to speak with the dog ’s owners afterward but felt they were dismissive. He called the police and went to a local medical clinic, where he was given a tetanus shot. His wounds are “deep and well into the muscle,” he said. He will be on antibiotics for seven days.
“It’s not life-threatening in any way,” he said. “But I will have scars from this for the rest of my life — my arm modelling career is over.”
The bigger issue, Baumeister said, is that the same dog could have easily attacked a child instead. There were roughly 40 people and 30 dogs at the beach that afternoon, he said, with about 10 dogs off-leash as children ran around.
His wife, Jennifer Baumeister, said the beach’s popularity with dog owners has skyrocketed since a recent newspaper article listed it as the closest beach to Montreal that allows dogs.
“The way the beach has been over the past couple of months, it was predictable that someone was going to get bitten or injured,” she said. “It has been overrun.”
She said the couple is “not antidog at all,” but given the circumstances, supports the town’s ban.
“It had to happen,” she said. “They should have done this months ago.”
Hudson called a special council meeting for Friday night to address the dog ban, where it planned to present a motion to amend its pet bylaw and discuss hiring two more patrollers.
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