The anxiety dogs feel when they're away from their owners may lead them to attack, B.C. SCPA animal welfare supervisor Kim Monteith said.
This comes after an incident in Kamloops that left dog owner Sean Agnew puzzled when his Rottweiler-cross and Australian shepherd were accused of severely attacking three people.
The dogs allegedly attacked a 73-year-old woman who broke her pelvis after falling to the ground.
The dogs are also suspected to have attacked two teenaged boys on the same day.
Owner Sean Agnew said he has 16 references to prove the dogs are not generally violent.
Monteith stresses the important of socializing pets and training them on how to deal with anxiety so they don't have a vicious outburst when owners aren't around.
"[Dogs] can get anxious and fearful because people aren't able to read their body language properly," Monteith told ctvbc.ca
In a separate incident, a Ucluelet man knocked out a pit bull with a shovel to get it to stop attacking another dog.
The attack was described as a vicious by Ucluelet RCMP Const. Ryan Warren.
The dog, knocked unconscious, was taken to the SPCA for holding because the owners were not in town.
"The dog seems to have dug its way out because the owners weren't around," said Warren.
Monteith said owners should get a pet sitter or leave the dog with a friend when they plan to be away for a longer period of time.
"You're setting [the dog] up to have something bad happen when you leave them outside like that for long," she said.
