A 10-year-old girl was bitten twice by an unleashed dog in Balmacarra Park in Sannich on Oct. 1. Now her father is demanding answers.
Bill Liu said his daughter has suffered terrible physical and psychological trauma since the incident.
“My daughter never touched the dog or provoked it or did something that would make us have part of the responsibility,” said Liu.
Liu’s daughter, Mercy, was taken to Royal Jubilee Hospital by a pizza delivery driver who offered to help. The dog that bit her was an English foxhound that Liu said should have been on a leash.
Liu said the dog’s owner was not thinking about his family’s safety and he has contacted a lawyer to see what he can do.
“The lawyer provided me information about the first bite rule in B.C.,” he said. “But my daughter suffered two bites.”
The one-bite rule is where a dog is given one chance to behave dangerously toward a human before it is given a dangerous dog designation.
However, the Capital Regional District does not follow the one-bite rule, said Mark Grolux, manager of animal care services.
“Every bite is unique and we investigate all bites, be it on a human or another animal,” Grolux said.
Instead of the one-bite rule, the CRD will apply the Dunbar scale, he explained.
The Dunbar scale has six different levels: level one, where a dog might be snapping at the air, through to level six, in which a dog kills a person. A dog that does bite people can be designated as dangerous, but this can be very demanding on the owner, Grolux said.
The District of Saanich has set an example that he said would work well when a dog bite occurs by making separate designations. A dog can be designated as aggressive but not dangerous or can have a dangerous dog designation.
“Aggressive dogs don’t normally need muzzles,” he added.
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