LETHBRIDGE – It’s not uncommon for Aaron Hernandez to take his roommate’s dog to the dog park. But his most recent trip to the scenic drive dog-run left Sophie in rough shape.
“A dog came up to her and bit her pretty good,” Hernandez said. “Sophie ran off, so I went and grabbed her, put her in my car and got out of there.”
At the time, Hernandez didn’t realize the extent of Sophie’s injuries, and left the park without talking to the other owner. After taking a look at the dog when he got home, he realized Sophie was hurt.
“It was about half an hour after (she was bitten) Soph was acting really weird,” said Sophie’s owner, Peter Millman. “I went over and looked at the couch and there was a big pool of blood where she was lying down. There was a giant flap of skin that had lifted over and you could just lay it back down.”
After discovering the injuries, Millman immediately took his dog to the vet.
“They told us right away that she was going to need surgery and stitching to repair the damage,” Millman said. “She was also going to need a few rounds of IV and antibiotics.”
It will be some time before the dog is back to 100 per cent, but the vet said she will be OK.
Millman, a university student, has to move forward with the financial struggle of a $1,400 vet bill.
“That’s an extremely expensive burden for me to handle right now while in finals,” Millman said. “I’m picking up extra shifts and working nights to try and pay for those vet bills.”
The City of Lethbridge has a fine system that punishes owners when their dog bites another pet. With a first offence resulting in a $100 fine, a second in a $200 fine, while third and subsequent offences can lead to $300 fines.
There may be fines, but there isn’t a bylaw that forces the owner to pay for the hurt dog’s vet bills, because that’s a civil matter.
Millman has opened up a page on Lethbridge and Area Swap and Buy , to try and find the other owner.
“I’m not blaming the other owner at all,” Millman said. “Because at the time we didn’t know what happened. I would just really like someone to be able to come forward and see the damage that’s been done here.”