A Gimli resident was wounded after he was attacked by a dog from behind while walking on Solvin Road in Gimli’s Vesturland neighbourhood, west of Highway 9.
He wants the public to be aware of a potential safety risk, saying the dog — which had disappeared from the house where it lives after the attack — is now back.
Grant McMillan, 72, was treated at hospital for his injuries.
It was a surprise attack, he said. He didn’t hear the dog or see it coming.
“It’s almost always tied up. That day, I walked by and didn’t hear it barking,” said McMillan, who uses Solvin Road as part of his regular walking route around town. “By the time I got by the house, and was well past the driveway, it just nailed me from behind. It grabbed my arm.”
He suffered four puncture wounds and “torn flesh” on his arm. It took about four or five weeks to heal to “as good as it’s going to get.” He now has a “dent” in his arm and a scar. The dog ripped his insulated coat and put a hole in his hoody.
The attack happened Jan. 10 at a house on Solvin Road immediately west of the Lakeside Church and north of Gimli High School. McMillan said he is not entirely sure of the dog’s breed.
On the day of the attack, the dog was off-leash and came at him on the road, where there are no sidewalks, in “full attack mode.”
After the first bite, the dog came at him a second time and McMillan said he had to swat it away. That’s when the homeowner came out and called the dog back to the yard. He spoke briefly with the homeowner, who didn’t offer an apology.
“[The homeowner] said the dog is usually friendly. I don’t think so; I walk by there every day and it isn’t friendly. He said sometimes the dog will nip your arm. Well, I had four puncture wounds and a chunk of skin gone. This wasn’t a play nip,” said McMillan. “And the second time the dog came at me, I got a right cross in and knocked it off its trajectory. By this time, the guy was calling it back and it obeyed him.”
McMillan, who said he grew up on a farm and has been around dogs all his life, said his greatest concern now is public safety, particularly given the home’s proximity to Gimli High School and Sigurbjorg Stefansson Early School.
“[The dog] scared the hell out of me. This place is so close to the two schools. I mean, my god, if that thing came at some eight-year-old girl, she wouldn’t have a hope. That’s the terrifying part,” he said. “I’m a [robust guy] and it was scary for me. It’d be a different story for a kid.”
McMillan said he reported the attack to the RCMP and was advised to contact local animal control. He said he spoke with the RM’s two animal control officers, who had “promised me action,” but he has received no information about what steps were taken.
“They’re under a code of silence and all this privacy stuff. I got no valuable information out of animal control. I didn’t get anything from either of them,” said McMillan.
He said community health officials later told him the dog was tested for rabies.
“I talked to community health and they were concerned about rabies. They got back to me after about 10 days, and I guess the dog was tested. I don’t know whether they had quarantined the dog. There was no rabies, but I got a tetanus shot when I was getting put back together at the hospital.”
McMillan said he also spoke with the municipality’s assistant chief administrative officer.
“She got back to me after I told her what happened, and she said they were contemplating the re-location of the dog. That was the first time I talked to Kelly. The second time I talked to her, the re-location was off [the table], but the dog would have to wear a muzzle,” he said. “Well, I don’t know when it has to wear a muzzle. I’ve seen it since and it sure as hell didn’t have a muzzle on.”
He said he has seen the dog in the yard a number of times in recent weeks and that there is no fence around the property.
He believes animal control’s response has been “non-existent” and wants municipal council to “take public safety more seriously than it currently does.”
The RM’s two animal control officers declined to provide information to the Express and said they would ask someone at the RM to contact the paper.
The Express emailed the municipality and its communications spokesperson with questions, including what action was taken following the attack. The RM did not respond.
The homeowner declined to comment when contacted by the Express.
“The dog is still there. There’s no justice in this,” said McMillan. “But my biggest concern is if that dog attacks a kid. That’s terrifying.”
An RCMP spokesperson confirmed police received a report about the incident Jan. 12.
“A 72-year-old male from Gimli was walking when a dog bit him two days prior to this report. The male immediately attended the local hospital for minor non-life-threatening injuries,” she said in an email. “The victim reported this to the Gimli Animal Control shortly after making the report to the RCMP.”
When asked why the RCMP did not intervene, the spokesperson said police provide assistance to municipal and provincial agencies, such as animal control or the provincial chief veterinary officer, when required.
“As this had been reported to the local Animal Control, the male had done the proper steps and RCMP was not required,” she wrote. “We do not act as dog catcher unless it is absolutely necessary and in exigent circumstances.”
The RCMP will not be looking further into the case, she said, as it falls under the mandate of animal control, but police will provide assistance “when need be.”
