Dog that attacked five-year-old Saskatoon boy involved in three other attacks

It took over 50 stitches to close the wound on the boy’s scalp, the parents said. The nurse told his father that it was centimetres away from puncturing the skull.

CTV News has learned a dog that attacked a five-year-old boy last week had been declared dangerous in February 2022, but the city had lost track of the owner a year ago.

According to City Solicitor Cindy Yelland, the dog was involved in three violent incidents prior to attacking the child outside Meadowgreen Confectionary on March 22. 

The dog killed a cat in 2020, attacked a cyclist in June 2021, and attacked another dog in July 2021, Yelland said.

“The Crown (City Solicitor’s Office) believed there was clear evidence the animal was dangerous. City prosecutors also did not believe the owner possessed the ability to safely manage the dog,” Yelland told CTV News.

At the time, she said prosecutors asked for the dog to be destroyed but the court declined, opting instead to place conditions for the animal that the owner was legally obligated to follow, including wearing a muzzle, being kept in an enclosure, getting behavioural training, and having regular appearance dates for monitoring.

Animal Control is responsible for making sure the owner follows the conditions of a dangerous animal order, but Yelland says they lost contact with the owner in March 2022 when the owner moved without telling the city.

“We were unable to locate the owner, leading us to believe they were transient. The whereabouts of the owner and the dog had been unknown until this attack.”

Following the attack last week, the city learned the dog had changed hands several times in the last year, and Yelland says it’s unclear whether the previous owners disclosed the dangerous animal order on the animal.

On Tuesday, city prosecutors issued a warrant for the dog’s seizure and it was “surrendered by the owners for destruction,” Yelland says.

After a mandatory 10-day waiting period, the dog will be euthanized, the city says.

Yelland says her office also expects to receive a prosecution request from the Saskatoon Animal Control Agency for the dog’s owner.