Man attacked by dogs after entering Main Street residence

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

On Monday neither the RCMP nor the town’s bylaw enforcement office were looking to lay charges following an incident over the weekend in which a man was attacked by two pit bull dogs inside a residence on Main Street.

The attack occurred inside of the residence at 94 Main St. where the dogs live, after a 49-year-old man entered the residence uninvited to visit the occupants of the residence who were not at home at the time.

The man received numerous lacerations to his face, legs and arms, which the RCMP acknowledged where quite serious lacerations.

After the attack the man was able to get himself to Mern’s Restaurant located nearby, where he pounded on the door yelling for help. Witnesses who saw the man described his injuries as leaving him unrecognizable, saying he was bleeding from head to toe.

The RCMP were notified of the May 3 matter at 2:13 p.m. on Saturday.

He was transported by ambulance to the hospital and was released on Sunday.

The RCMP said Monday the man was familiar with the dogs.

“He knows that the dogs belong there,” said RCMP Constable Mark Connell. “It wasn’t an attack where he’s a stranger to the dogs and he didn’t know them.”

But, the officer said, it’s also not a case where it was a random attack on the street.

Asked whether the RCMP were intending to lay charges, Const. Connell said at the time, no.

“At this point we’re just assisting the bylaw enforcement office in the investigation, taking statements, talking to witnesses,” he said.

The bylaw enforcement office also said charges are not being looked at.

“There’s no criminal charges that are going to be pressed by the RCMP and it doesn’t fall under our bylaw,” Russell Allen, the town’s bylaw enforcement officer, said late Monday morning. “The gentleman did open the door and walk into this guy’s house, so we’d be hard pressed to take any court action against (the owner). It’s dangerous and fierce yes, but it was inside the house.”

Allen says the town’s bylaw would only apply if the attack had taken place outside of the residence and the animals were not under the control of their owner. Allen, who is familiar with the dogs in question, says the owner does take steps to ensure he complies with the bylaw. If the dogs are outside Allen says they’re kept in a cage and when they’re taken for walks they’re kept on a leash, which, he says of the latter, is more than the bylaw requires.

“Our bylaw doesn’t require that they have to be on a leash, they have to be under the control of the owner,” says Allen, adding he’s not received any recent complaints about the dogs.

The two dogs have been seized by the Yarmouth SPCA for a 10-day assessment, which includes an assessment for rabies, after which time a decision will be made of whether to return them to the owner. No one from the SPCA was available for comment on Monday, although Allen suggested the dogs would likely be returned since there was no violation of the bylaw.