Two local dog owners say their 14-year-old dog was killed by an off-leash pit bull in southwest Edmonton last week.
The Allard community is coming together to mourn the death of Riley, who was killed Wednesday night when his owner took him outside before bed.
“As I got to the bottom of my driveway, I saw something out of my right hand side peripheral,” Rocky Gibbs told CTV News. “I recognized it was a grey pit bull.”
Gibbs says he picked up his dog and started running back to the house, but the dog knocked him down and got a hold of Riley.
“I was trying to chase him and I was screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to kick the pit bull back,” Gibbs said. “I did everything in my power.”
A neighbour, and eventually his wife, Angela, helped Gibbs fight off the dog, but when they got a hold of Riley, the damage was done: Two large wounds, one of them 25 centimetres long.
“When you have a pet, a dog, you know at some point you’ll have to put him down, but no one should have to do it that way,” he said. “It was horrible.”
An image of the suspected dog was captured by a neighbour and Animal Control is investigating. They have located the dog, which they describe as an American Staffordshire terrier, or a pit bull cross.
“We are accumulating witness information,” peace officer Sabrina Bergin said. “The seizure of the animal is largely dependent on the willingness of the owner to surrender."
Riley’s owners are frustrated because they put a former complaint about the dog last fall after seeing the animal off-leash and acting aggressively.
“We need to have change,” Angela Ferrari-Gibbs said. “The city has to be more proactive. They need to hold people accountable.”
With files from Nicole Weisberg
