Marilyn MacLeod was taking her golden retriever for a walk on a popular trail in Pender Harbour when two dogs loose from a nearby property started running toward her. One of the dogs ran full force into the side of her knee, sending her crashing to the ground.
After the accident, the dogs ran back to their property. MacLeod said the owners never emerged and she was left to deal with the aftermath — a dislocated knee, fractured femur, broken tibia and many torn muscles and tendons.
She spent two weeks in the hospital while doctors tried to repair the damage. The injury confined the active woman to a wheelchair and walker for five weeks during her busiest time of year, preparing for the upcoming Pender Harbour Blues Festival. MacLeod is the volunteer organizer of the event.
This week she can finally put a little pressure on her leg, but she’s looking at six to 12 months for a full recovery.
“It really did a number on me,” MacLeod said from her home in Pender Harbour.
She said she doesn’t plan to sue the owners because “the dogs didn’t come at me viciously; I know they were just trying to play,” but she does want an apology as she’s heard they are aware of the incident.
“One day I will phone them and talk to them about it. I’d like them to start taking responsibility and to take care of their dogs,” MacLeod noted.
In Pender Harbour there are no dog bylaws, so MacLeod has little recourse other than talking with the owners and hoping they agree to keep their dogs confined.
If the dog was vicious she could call the RCMP, Pender Harbour area director Frank Mauro said, noting in this case, “I guess really the choices are limited.”
He explained that Pender Harbour and Egmont don’t have dog bylaws because the community hasn’t wanted them in the past.
In 2006 a dog bylaw was pitched for the area but it “was defeated soundly,” via an alternate approval process, Mauro said.
Since then, the director hasn’t had enough complaints from the public to warrant trying again.
“I’d have to have some significant critical mass to go forward with it,” he said.
Having a dog bylaw doesn’t ensure dogs at large will be dealt with, according to Halfmoon Bay homeowner Frances McGuckin, who says she’s selling her house due to uncontrolled dogs in the area.
The 64-year-old woman said she can no longer go out for a walk in her neighbourhood without carrying a pole, a whistle and an air horn.
She said two dogs in the neighbourhood “constantly” get out of their yard and have run at her and her mixed-breed dog several times in an aggressive manner.
In one case, she said, “without the air horn and the stick, my dog and/or I would have been absolutely obliterated. It’s the most frightening thing I’ve ever been through.”
She reported the incident to the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), which has a dog control bylaw in all rural areas except Pender Harbour/Egmont, but said “nothing was done.”
After making several more complaints to the SCRD, she said, the dogs continue to get loose.
“So I’m selling my house. I’m moving.”
The SCRD has a policy of responding to the first reported incident; however, staff declined to speak to Coast Reporter about McGuckin’s specific case as “personal information is protected under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Law.”
McGuckin said the SCRD has talked to the owners of the dogs in question, “but that’s it. They don’t have to be muzzled or anything.”
Since McGuckin has not been physically injured by the dogs in question, they cannot be declared vicious under the regulation and seized, according to SCRD bylaws.
She would like to see the animals taken away and possibly euthanized.
“Dogs that are attacking to that degree should probably be euthanized,” she said.
Sechelt and Gibsons have their own dog control bylaws and both have rules against dogs running uncontrolled at large.
While some areas have designated dog parks where canines can run off leash, owners are still expected to have total control of their animals under the bylaw.
Dog control officers can levy fines against owners, seize animals and have them declared vicious, which could lead to euthanization.
Find out more about the dog bylaws in your area at www.scrd.ca, www.district.sechelt.bc.ca or www.gibsons.ca. Search dog control to find the appropriate page.
