A woman and a dog are recovering after the pair were attacked by four pit bulls in southwest Calgary on Friday night, according to police.
Marissa Gautreau was walking her roommate Danielle Lewis’ dog, a 1.5-year-old golden retriever named Copper, when they were attacked.
“The next thing you know I’m kind of starfishing our dog on the ground while the four pit bulls are biting us from every angle,” Gautreau said.
“A car pulls up. Two people get out and they start beating on the dogs with two lacrosse sticks and dogs just don’t give up, and then another guy stops and he’s kicking the dogs, and then finally the dogs just gave up and I was sitting here on my front lawn just bleeding everywhere.”
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The woman suffered minor injuries, police said. Copper was taken to the vet for his injuries and got stitches and staples.
Officers responded to the 70 block of Woodview Court S.W. after 7:45 p.m.
Lewis said the pit bulls were “still running wild” and the owner wasn’t around when officers arrived.
“We were lucky the police came as quick as they did and it could have been a lot worse than what it was,” Lewis said.
Lewis feels helpless and unsafe, especially since it’s a “very populated area.”
“There’s always people walking their dogs through these streets so it’s just a matter of time before something like this happens again,” she said.
“I know there’s a stigma around pit bulls,” Lewis continued. “That’s why we hate to generalize the breed of dog itself because I truly do think that these dogs are living in very poor living conditions and they aren’t taken care of properly and, unfortunately, this is just what you see when that happens.”
The pit bull owner is facing multiple fines, police said.