Watch above: A north Edmonton man is in shock after his dog was nearly killed by what he believes is a machete. Fletcher Kent reports. WARNING: the images in this story may be disturbing to some.
WARNING: Some of the details in this story may be disturbing to some readers.
EDMONTON – A north Edmonton pet owner has been left with more than $2,000 in veterinarian bills after he says his dog was viciously attacked with a machete earlier this week.
“I can’t really believe it happened. I’m still in shock,” said Shane Ally.
Ally says he received a call from his roommate Anthony Brown Monday afternoon saying his four-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier Bentley had been seriously injured.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my life and that’s not something I’d want to see again,” said Brown.
Brown says Bentley was in the backyard playing with three other dogs who live in the north Edmonton home. Brown’s dog, Pancake, began barking so he thought he’d go outside to see what was going on.
“I could see Bentley sitting over there by the rain barrel and I said, ‘Come here buddy, come see me.’ And he wouldn’t move.”
When Brown got closer to Bentley he says he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“His right arm was completely covered in blood,” he explained.
“So I grabbed his arm and I looked and as soon as I looked on his neck I saw a gash probably about that long,” Brown said, placing his hands about 20-25 centimetres apart.
Animal control officers were in the area responding to a loose dog complaint and took Bentley to the vet where he underwent surgery.
“It was pretty tough. They said he fractured one of his back bones and if it had been a different angle he would have been gone,” Ally said Wednesday afternoon.
Edmonton police officers came to the home and questioned Brown and his neighbour. Ally and Brown say they were told Bentley may have been involved in a fight with the neighbour’s dog and was struck with a machete.
The Edmonton Police Service confirms it is investigating, and believes the dog was assaulted with a weapon.
“You have to be some sort of twisted individual to do something like that to an animal,” said Brown.
“Just for somebody to be able to do that to any animal at all just kind of blows my mind,” added Ally. “He’s an all-around happy dog… He’s my best friend.”
Ally says he’s only spoken with his neighbour once, about two months ago when Bentley accidentally got into the neighbour’s front yard.
“The neighbour came over and he came onto the property and he says, ‘I’m going to tell you right now, if that dog ever comes over to my property again I’m going to kill it.’ And he pointed in my face and he said, ‘You’ve been warned.’ and he walked away,” explained Ally.
Global News knocked on the neighbour-in-question’s door, but no one answered.
Ally says he hopes the person who is responsible for Bentley’s attack is charged.
“If he doesn’t learn his lesson from doing this to one animal, there’s animals all over this neighbourhood. What’s going to happen next? I don’t even know.”
Bentley is expected to survive, although Ally’s not sure if his dog will suffer any permanent injuries.
Edmonton police say both households have filed several dog bylaw complaints.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News.