A vicious West Van dog attack left him with facial wounds. But he’ll still forgive its owner

He’s been left with potentially life-altering injuries: missing the tip of one finger, the flesh on one arm, and painful bite wounds to his neck and face.

But Gary Cuthbert is in shockingly good shape — and good spirits — considering what he’s been through over the past few days.

Coverage of dog attacks on Globalnews.ca:

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“I feel fine,” the 82-year-old told Global News.

“The thing is, I feel sorry for the girl. She’s going to have to live with this for the rest of her life.”

The West Vancouver senior is talking about a woman believed to be the owner of the large breed dog that attacked Cuthbert during his daily walk on the North Shore last Friday at around 2:30 p.m.

“I do this every day. An hour, hour-and-a-half walk,” Cuthbert said of his exercise routine, along the trails beneath the Lions Gate Bridge.

“I put my arm up, to protect my neck. He bit into my arm, he bit into my hand. I’ve got 12 stitches, and bites in my neck. He tore a hole in my jacket, for crying out loud.”

West Vancouver police are now appealing for any witnesses who may have witnessed the attack.

“Definitely, dog owners need to be responsible for the actions of their pets. And this dog has attacked, quite significantly, an elderly gentleman,” said Const. Jeff Palmer.

“It would be very helpful to know that adequate steps are taken to ensure this sort of risk isn’t present in the community.”

READ MORE: Father frustrated with Lethbridge dog owner after 2nd biting incident

The dog’s owner was carrying two dogs, at the time of the attack.

Cuthbert said one of those dogs was leashed — but the one that attacked him was not. Both dogs are described as large-breed animals, each brown in colour.

Cuthbert believes he’s seen the dog’s owner near where the attack occurred at least once before.

“She’s in the area, some place. But I don’t know where,” he said.

“I will forgive her. I’m angry and I’m hurt, but I will survive. I hope she learns a big lesson from this.”

READ MORE: ‘Worse than a horror movie’ — witness describes dog attack that badly hurt animal control officer

On Wednesday, an animal control officer with the Squamish Nation said the owner of the dog came forward and the animal has been put down. The officer went on to say the dog was frightened by a cyclist. As the owner was trying calm it, the victim came out of some bushes and the dog attacked.

West Vancouver police said it’s too early to say whether charges could be laid against the dog’s owner, noting Cuthbert described her as distressed and distraught immediately after the incident.

She was eventually able to get the offending animal under control, but did not give Cuthbert any meaningful assistance.

He eventually returned home to call police himself, before being taken to Lions Gate Hospital for treatment.

What bothers Cuthbert the most is that he’s had to put his daily exercise routine on hold.

Doctors have told him that he must keep the bandages on his head or arm from becoming wet —and that means staying out of the rain, and off the trails he frequents.

“I can’t get out and walk. I cannot get this wet. We’re worried about an infection,” Cuthbert said.

“Once I get this cleaned up, then I’ll be back out on my walk again.”