WATCH: After her toddler was attacked by a dog inside Holt Renfrew, a mother wants the high-end department store to change its policy. Christina Stevens reports.
Note: We want to note up front, that the mother in our story is Global News reporter Catherine McDonald. The fact that she is an employee of Global News did not unduly influence our decision to cover this story, which we believe is worth reporting as a matter of public interest.
TORONTO – A Toronto mother wants Holt Renfrew to change their policy of allowing dogs in their stores after her young daughter was bitten and badly injured at the flagship Bloor Street store on the weekend.
Catherine McDonald, a reporter with Global News, was in the cosmetics section at Holts with her daughter Eve on Sunday afternoon. The store was busy that day and there wasn’t a lot of aisle space to maneuver, she said, when she noticed a woman walking two dogs with matching sweaters coming towards her.
“They’re medium-sized dogs and the woman whose is holding them is being tugged and I can tell that she can’t control these dogs,” McDonald said in an interview Monday.
“We were a few feet from these dogs. One of the dogs lunged at Eve because one of the next things I knew, I looked and I saw Eve was being shaken by this dog.”
McDonald took her daughter to The Hospital for Sick Children. The doctor’s examination found that Eve had three puncture wounds – two of which were deep. She said doctors told her the wounds couldn’t be closed yet because they could become infected. Instead, they would have to remain open so antiseptic could be routinely applied.
Eve was readmitted to hospital Monday evening to treat an infection in her hand.
One of the dogs, a 14-year-old Chinese Shar Pei named Sherman, has been placed in temporary quarantine.
McDonald said the woman who was walking the dogs looked like “she felt awful” since she was responsible for the dogs.
Dogs are allowed in Holt Renfrew but there is no clear signage about the policy. The company has not responded to requests for an interview but did say in a statement they are “reviewing the unfortunate incident carefully, staying in touch with the family, and fully supporting the investigation here.”
“Why are people bringing dogs into a store where there are children? Where there are old people? Where there are strollers?” McDonald said.
“I can tell you right now a lot of my friends don’t want to go to Holt Renfrew until this policy is changed.”
McDonald said she thinks the dog should be put down but is more concerned about someone else being bitten.
“I don’t want any other families to have this happen to them. Why are people allowed to bring dogs into a busy store, there’s not a lot of room. My expectation is that my daughter is going to be safe,” she said.
According to Toronto Animal Services, there were a reported 815 people bitten by dogs in Toronto in 2013. During the same period, they received reports of 299 bites from other animals.
TAS investigates whenever they receive information about a reported bite and can sometimes punish the dog or owner. They have three main recourses; a muzzle order, a caution or penalties through the Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act – which is the most severe of three and can include an order to put the dog down.
But dogs are not automatically put down after a bite. In fact, according to Mary Lou Leiher, a program manager with Toronto Animal Services, it’s rare a dog is ever put down following a bite in Toronto.
According to Shane Katz, a personal injury lawyer in Toronto, the dog’s history doesn’t matter – if there’s a bite, the owner is liable.
“The damages flow directly, regardless of the owner’s actual fault. So just the fact that the dog bites or attacks, the court would simply assess the damages resulting from that bite or attack and that would have to be paid by the owner of the dog,” Katz said.
But can a business be responsible for the actions of a dog on its property? Maybe, Katz said. He said the Occupiers Liability Act requires property owners to take “reasonable measures” to ensure people are safe while on their property.
“I think you’d want to warn your customers. There has to be some kind of knowledge sharing I’ll say between the owner of the property and customers that come on the property,” he said. “If somebody startles a dog, it could be the most domesticated, well-behaved dog and one startle, the dog bites somebody or scares somebody and that person falls and suffers a serious injury.”
– With files from Christina Stevens
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