Animal control officers are searching for two pitbulls and their owner after a vicious attack that killed one dog and maimed another Wednesday in Surrey.
The owner of the attacked dogs, who asked to be identified only as Yoshiko, said she was walking her three pets through Tynehead Regional Park when she saw a woman in her 40s struggling to control a pair of leashed pitbulls.
As the two dog owners were passing each other, one of the pitbulls attacked Yoshiko’s Yorkshire terrier.
“Her pitbull, one of them, grabbed her and she tossed her into the air,” Yoshiko said.
The small dog made off with an injured leg and a puncture wound on its back, but Yoshiko’s five-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Buddy, wasn’t so fortunate.
Both of the pitbulls attacked the dog, and the owner was unable to pull them away.
“The lady’s trying to help me, trying to pull the dog away but she couldn’t,” Yoshiko said.
The frightened owner grabbed her injured pet and ran, leaving Buddy behind as she called 911. The dog was killed, and by the time Animal Control Officers arrived at the area, the pitbulls and their owner were gone.
They are now searching for two dogs, one white and the other white and brown, and a woman with bleached blond hair.
“The person who was in care and control of those attacking dogs has simply abrogate their responsibility and fled the scene,” said animal control manager Kim Marosevich. “What I would suggest at this point in time is: do the right thing, contact our office.”
Marosevich said authorities suspect they may know the pitbulls they’re dealing with. They visited a property associated with two such dogs, but found no one home.
Yoshiko said she doesn’t blame the breed – she thinks the owner should be held responsible.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Lisa Rossington
