A Winnipeg dog that that went after a two-year-old girl, killed a small dog, and injured a bystander has been labelled dangerous.
The designation was originally given to Coco, a black Labrador retriever, by the city in August and on Friday, his owner fought to have the designation revoked.
“He never hurt anyone before. He never hurt any dog before,” his owner Kelly Quiang told a city committee on Friday.
In June, Coco jumped the back fence of his home and went for a two-year-old. The girl’s father had to intervene.
On Aug. 13, Carolina Fridman said she was walking her Shih Tzu Bichon, Snoopy, when Coco suddenly came out from behind her and bit her dog around the neck. Coco also bit a bystander who was trying to break up the dogs. Fridman brought Snoopy to the vet but the dog did not survive.
“An animal that is capable to kill another animal of his kind can kill anyone,” Fridman told the committee.
Quiang pleaded with the committee Friday in a last-ditch effort to have them lift the “dangerous dog” designation. She said Coco has undergone behavioural therapy and brought in his trainers to testify the dog was obedient. However, the committee didn’t budge.
“The dog is obviously , should not be in the community period,” city councillor Russ Wyatt told CTV Winnipeg.
Still despite the designation, Coco will stay in his neighbourhood. As the owner of a “dangerous dog,” Quiang will now have to build a higher fence, muzzle Coco in public and place signs on entrances to her home warning neighbours. Additional responsibilities of a dangerous dog owner include carrying liability insurance with a minimum of $1,000,000.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
