Donations rush in to pay veterinary bill of greyhound attacked while on leash
A GoFundMe campaign has more than covered the $3,000 in vet bills so far for Vici, a 10-year-old greyhound wounded in an attack Friday described by her owner as unprovoked, bloody and horrifying.
“I was looking at her in the eye and all I could see was absolute terror and I could see the life leaving her and it was just terrible,” Joe McParland said as he described feeling a tug on Vici’s leash and looking behind him to see a much smaller dog — on a leash but with no owner in sight — clamped to Vici’s throat and shaking violently. It was so much smaller than Vici that its paws were off the ground, its full weight pulling on Vici.
“She was shaking her head and I could see blood spurting all over the place,” McParland said. McParland said the dog looked like a smallish pit bull (Ontario and the City of Windsor have banned pit bulls born after 2005), though its owner has told the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society, which is holding the dog for a 10-day quarantine, that it’s a bulldog mix. It’s being held because McParland was bitten on the left hand as he tried to wrench open the dog’s jaws to free his greyhound. At first he tried kicking the attacking dog, but it refused to release its grip. So he used both hands to free his dog. “They’re so damn strong, so damn strong,” he said. “My hands still ache.”
On Monday, Windsor Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Betteridge confirmed the owner of the dog had been issued a ticket under the City of Windsor’s dangerous dog bylaw for “permitting a dog to bite an animal without provocation.” The file has now been handed over to the city’s bylaw enforcement department for further investigation of the incident, as well as another alleged attack by the same dog earlier in the day Friday.
Vici was taken to the after-hours veterinary clinic on Walker Road, where she underwent surgery and pain treatment. McParland said Monday she will probably stay for a few more days. “She’s not in danger of losing life, it’s all about pain management right now.”
The GoFundMe account set up by one of McParland’s neighbours on Victoria Avenue had amassed more than $4,500 in donations. McParland said any extra money will be offered to help vet bills for a dog that was also attacked (though not as severely) earlier the same day, and any money left over will go either to the humane society or the Greyhound rescue society where McParland got Vici seven years ago.
He said he doesn’t want the attacking dog put down. “It’s not the dog ’s fault, it’s the dog ’s owner,” he said, expressing hope the dog will be taken away and given to someone who can better care for it. The city’s bylaw enforcement manager, Bill Tetler, confirmed an investigation by a bylaw enforcement officer was commencing. It will look at not just the attack on Vici, but also any history of past incidents. “Every dog bite is different, every dog bite has different factors,” he said Monday, noting the fact the dog is quarantined ensures there’s no threat to the public while the investigation continues. When asked if a dog can be taken away from an owner, he said the provincial Dog Owner Liability Act allows for conditions to be placed on a dog, including an ownership ban. But those conditions are up to a court to decide. Humane society executive director Melanie Coulter confirmed on Sunday the dog was in quarantine, as a precaution against possible rabies transmission. McParland said the attack happened at about 5:30 p.m. Friday as he was walking his two greyhounds Vici and Tessie, 5, in the 1400 block of Ouellette Avenue. The dogs usually walk slightly behind him, so all he initially noticed was a tug on Vici’s leash. He turned around to see the smaller dog “locked onto her throat,” and violently shaking. Though greyhounds are large and very fast dogs, they’re very docile and unaggressive, said McParland. While he was dealing with the attack, McParland’s other dog Tessie wandered off into the street. Bystanders stopped their vehicles and got hold of her. Witnesses across the street at the Tim Hortons also ran over to help and call 911, he said. McParland said a man who was apparently the attacking dog’s owner ran to the scene and tried to grab its leash but McParland refused to let it go until police arrived.