Buttons the therapy dog put down after attack by bullmastiff in Pitt Meadows

Buttons wore his therapy bandana with pride. For years he helped seniors, children and the sick.

“He was an amazing dog,” said owner Yvonne McDonald of Buttons, a Shih Tzu-Lhasa Apso-cross. “This dog put in so many volunteer hours. We’d walk down the hall–doctors, nurses, patients, staff, even cleaners–everyone had a good word. He knew where every cookie jar was in that the hospital. They had cookie jars for him.”

On Monday morning McDonald and her husband John took Buttons for a walk in Pitt Meadows, stopping at the nearby McDonalds as they often did. John stayed on the patio with Buttons while Yvonne went inside.

“At the patio there was a group of people with another dog,” said John McDonald. “As we went to sit down the other dog turned around and attacked Buttons, who immediately went into a submissive position. After five minutes when we finally managed to get the dog off…I told Yvonne to grab Buttons and run quickly across the street to a vet.”

Buttons suffered severe leg injuries and stomach wounds. John and Yvonne made the difficult decision to put him down.

“It’s a nightmare. Nobody should have to go through this,” said Yvonne.

The owners of the bullmastiff that attacked Buttons had been ordered to keep the dog muzzled because of an incident with another canine a couple of months ago.

“The owner had the dog secured. The dog had been muzzled,” said Kim Grout, chief administrative officer for the City of Pitt Meadows.

But Grout said someone who knew the owner decided to give the dog some water and removed the muzzle.

The City of Pitt Meadows has designated the dog dangerous, but there are no plans at this point to have it seized or destroyed. The McDonalds want the laws changed.

“Change the bylaw. If a dog bites, it needs to be put down,” said Yvonne.