'I was begging the man to help': Off-leash dog attacks German shepherd in northeast Edmonton
'I was begging the man to help': Off-leash dog attacks German shepherd in northeast Edmonton
A dog required emergency surgery after what its owner described as a vicious attack Friday evening in northeast Edmonton.
Janis Fitzpatrick was walking her nine-year-old female German shepherd cross Xena around 4:30 p.m. near 123 Avenue and 42 Street. A man was walking his dog off-leash when it bounded over down the hill and attacked Xena.
"[It was] very ferocious biting her," Fitzpatrick told CTV News Edmonton. "Had a very strong grip on my dog. I could see my dog wasn't fighting back she was trying to get away from this dog."
While it was happening, Fitzpatrick said the other dog's owner stood at the top of the hill and watched.
"I was screaming, pleading, can you please come help me, come get your dog," she added.
As she was struggling to get the dog off hers, the owner finally came over and put a retractable leash on it, Fitzpatrick recalled.
"I saw blood squirting from my dog's chest and I knew there was an open puncture wound," she said. "I knew that it was probably very serious."
"I was begging the man to help us, and he refused. He started to walk away, he said, 'Suck it up, she's fine. Just put some ice on it.'"
A photo of the dog and its owner that Fitzpatrick says attack her dog Xena (Supplied).
According to Fitzpatrick, the man unleashed his dog again after he walked away. She pleaded to get his information, but he refused.
"I did have some fears that this dog could come back and finish off my dog or even attack me," Fitzpatrick said.
In the nine years she has walked Xena in the Bergman Park area, Fitzpatrick says she never had an issue. She reported the incident to Animal Care and Control, hoping to identify the owner and his dog.
She rushed Xena to an emergency veterinarian, where her dog needed surgery to close the wound on her chest and three staples for the one on her back. Her vet bills are approaching $2,200 so far.
"They said she was lucky," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm just blessed that someone was watching over us because she's my best friend, and she's my whole life."
Janis Fitzpatrick pets Xena a day after she had emergency surgery for wounds from a dog attack (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson).
Fitzpatrick hopes Xena will fully recover and is asking dog owners to keep their beloved pets on a leash.
"Please be careful with your pets," Fitzpatrick said. "This may happen again, and I don't want that for anybody."
On Feb. 9, the City of Edmonton confirmed that the owner of the dog who bit Xena has been given a bylaw ticket for the attack and for not having a pet licence.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Travel nurses go from place to place, all over the world, filling in wherever help is needed. To assist with current shortages, some are in Saskatchewan.
Pile O Bones hosted their 18th annual tattoo convention at the Turvey Centre on the weekend where artists from around the country were able to highlight their talent.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
If you are yearning to walk the trails around Mud Lake in the Britannia Conservation Area, be aware there are wild turkeys looking for mates. A gang of three have been chasing and pecking at visitors to the nature trail for weeks.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Mounties in Port McNeill violated a suspect's Charter rights by failing to allow him to contact a lawyer promptly after his 2019 drug trafficking arrest, a judge has ruled.
A photo of the dog and its owner that Fitzpatrick says attack her dog Xena (Supplied).
Janis Fitzpatrick pets Xena a day after she had emergency surgery for wounds from a dog attack (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson).
