A woman required surgery after being one of several people reportedly attacked by a dog in northeast Edmonton’s Abbottsfield area on Saturday, Aug. 12.
The Edmonton Police Service said around 4:30 p.m., a 69-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk in front of a Boston Pizza restaurant at 118 Avenue and 33 Street with a man walking a large dog, described as a tan pit bull or pit bull/Doberman cross, walking towards her.
The woman, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, told Global News she’s owned dogs her entire life and had no fear of them — but that changed when the man allegedly dropped the dog’s leash.
The man told the woman to not worry as the dog doesn’t bite, according to both police and the victim — but then it lunged at her.
The dog knocked her to the ground and bit her on her legs, hands and face, causing serious wounds, police said.
The woman eventually got up and sheltered in the Boston Pizza, police said, where paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries to undergo surgery.
The victim said she was left with 30 stitches in her leg and ankle, and six above her eye.
Not long after, a second woman told Global News she had a similar experience.
Kelsey Anderson said she walked by the man and his dog outside the same restaurant, where the man allegedly made the same comment that his dog doesn’t bite – but it lunged and bit her ankle.
Anderson shared a photo of bite marks on her leg (see below.)
The suspect and dog immediately fled the scene on foot, police said, adding officers arrived and did an extensive search but couldn’t find them.
People who work in the area are worried — there’s a daycare in the same strip mall.
“It’s not a safe feeling, especially knowing there’s a bunch of children right next door to my place of business,” said Alisa Janhsen, who works in the shopping complex and said word of the multiple dog attacks spread quickly.
“I had a lady sitting here in front of the store on that night, where she was just scared to go home because she had heard that this dog was out and biting people,” Janhsen said.
Janhsen said she went outside to look around and spotted the man and dog believed to be involved. She called police back to the area but by time they arrived, the man had disappeared.
“Being a dog owner myself, I could never imagine my dog going up and attacking somebody just cause… Either the dog was provoked or the dog was trained to attack,” Janhsen said.
“A normal person would be like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry this happened. Like, can I do anything? Pay for anything? Can I cover the costs for anything?’ The fact that he just fled makes me believe that he’s a s—y human.”
The owner is described by police as a man with long blond hair who was wearing a red shirt at the time of the attack and was walking the dog on a long blue leash.
Anyone with information on the owner or dog is asked to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.