The dog that attacked a two-year-old and killed its owner in southeast Alberta has been quarantined and is being monitored, said police.
Emergency crews were called to the owner’s home near Langdon, southeast of Calgary, shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“In an effort to stop the attack on the toddler, an adult female intervened and the dog turned the aggression on her," said Staff Sergeant John Spaans, with the RCMP's K-Division.
The 50-year-old owner was pronounced dead at the scene. The toddler was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Their identities have not been released.
According to RCMP, family members who were present at the time of the incident put the boxer-pitbull cross in a kennel after the attack.
Both that dog and another in the home were later quarantined. RCMP said they will be monitored for a period up to 10 days to check for diseases such as rabies. Then, the fate of the involved dog will be decided.
"There's a number of options that are possible, including voluntarily euthanizing the animal or making an application to the courts to order the animal to be put down. There's also remedies such as allowing the family the opportunity to make the house safe [by] building kennels and fencing, but that's further down the road," said Spaans.
Witnesses told police the dog had not shown previous signs of aggression and was otherwise well behaved.
