— Owner & pit bull escape up the lake by boat —

(OSOYOOS TIMES — August 15, 2007) —

By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times

An Osoyoos dog was seriously injured by a violent pit bull attack near the Osoyoos Sailing Club on the civic holiday long-weekend.
And the dog's owners are agitated.
White Sands resident Ron Cutmore was walking Mya, his 9-year-old shitsu, near the sailing club around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 5, when he says he spotted a group of four people, two women and two men, on the expanse of lawn near White Sands' north end.
While Cutmore saw a leashed border collie with the group, he did not see an unleashed pit bull that he says must have been lying in their midst. Suddenly, Cutmore says, the pit bull was closing in on him and Mya, its owner running frantically behind, unsuccessfully trying to control it.
The dog came at me and launched onto my dog, the retired Osoyoos resident said. I hadn't even seen it. It grabbed my dog and shook the life out of it, as if it were a rabbit.rnCutmore was horrified at the sight.
I didn't know what to do, he said, so I stomped down in the middle of its back.rnCutmore says this was enough to subdue the pit bull, causing it to release Mya from its jaws.
At this point, the retiree says he began to give the pit bull owner a piece of his mind.
The guy was apologizing, and I was giving him a mouthful, Cutmore said. It was then that he noticed Mya was having trouble standing on one of her legs, and had blood seeping through some of her fur. Concerned for his pet, Cutmore took the shitsu back to his condo to call a vet.
Some of the Cutmores' neighbours reported that the pit bull owner and his dog then fled the scene northward on the lake in a red inflatable Zodiac boat.
Cutmore and his wife Shirley then took Mya to the veterinary clinic in Penticton. They praised the staff there for their quick and compassionate service.
They were all wonderful, Shirley said. Thank goodness we have a 24-hour service like that.rnMya was treated for deep bite wounds to her eye, throat and chest. The Cutmores say she was also tested for injuries to her internal organs, of which there are none.
The shitsu did suffer damage to her muscular tissue and may have vision trouble in the affected eye in the future.
The total bill for the trip to the vet: $1,501.28.
But the Cutmores aren't concerned about the cost, they're concerned about their pet who, as Shirley pointed out, has become a very important part of the family.
My husband had a serious accident nine years ago, Shirley said, explaining that half his body was paralyzed, and that Mya was purchased as incentive to get him to exercise.
And it worked. Today, while a portion of Cutmore's face remains paralyzed, he has regained complete control of his limbs.
I didn't take her walking, she took me walking, Cutmore joked, saying that because of his injuries, he hadn't felt like going out in public. As far as he's concerned, Mya saved his life.
And this is not the first time the shitsu has escaped with her life. The Cutmores say that when they first moved to Osoyoos four years ago, Mya was attacked, again by a pit bull.
And while some might expect the Cutmores to be loathsome towards the pit bull, this is not the case.
It's not the dog, it's the bloody owner, Cutmore said, adding the pit bull should have been leashed and muzzled.
And he's right. Under Osoyoos' dog control bylaw, restricted dogs “ which include pit bulls and dogs bred with pit bulls “ must be leashed and muzzled while in public. A pit bull can avoid restricted status if it is registered witht he Canadian Kennel Club.
The unidentified pit bull owner, should his identity be discovered, could be subject to more than $400 in fines.
In British Columbia, pit bull restrictions are the jurisdiction of municipalities. There is no provincial legislation dealing with the animals.
In Ontario in 2005, Premier Dalton McGuinty ordered a province-wide ban on pit bulls after a string of vicious maulings.
And while that law has proved to be a contentious one, pitting dog-owners against the Province, others provinces have considered adopting similar restrictions.
The Cutmores expect Mya to be okay.