Montreal woman killed by dog in backyard attack: police

Pitbull kills woman in Montreal A 55-year-old woman is dead

A 55-year old woman died Wednesday afternoon in the backyard of her semi-detached home in Pointe-aux-Trembles in what police said was a deadly attack by a dog.

Montreal police said a 911 call came in saying a dog was attacking a woman.

"The call mentioned that there was a woman unconscious in the backyard and an aggressive dog was around the woman," said Montreal spokesperson Abdullah Emran.

When police arrived at the scene, the dog was gnawing on her body and was very aggressive toward police officers.

“Officers had no choice but to neutralize the dog,” said Emran.

Police officers shot the dog, which was described as a pit bull. It was not the woman's dog; it belonged to a neighbour, said Emran.

On Wednesday evening police questioned the owner of the dog, and said he is co-operating with police.

Police would not identify the victim because some family members have not yet been notified.

She was found unconscious around 5 p.m. behind her home on Edgar Prairie St. between Louis Lefevbre St. and Victor Delamarre St., all small residential streets. First responders tried to resuscitate her but she was pronounced dead on the scene. Police said there were several bite marks found around the woman’s upper body.

Police are investigating the incident. They say homicide investigators are not at the scene because for now they don't believe any human was directly involved in her death.

They say there could be other possible charges based on their investigation and are speaking with the owner of the animal.

"In the event that we do charge someone, it may be negligence causing death, but it's too early to say," said Const. Abdullah Emran.

The Montreal SPCA issued a statement saying they want to see the "best and most effective regulations considered in dealing with this issue."

That said, they continue to oppose breed-specific legislation.

"The SPCA Montreal has always been, and will always be, concerned about dangerous dogs in our community and some of those dogs are Rottweillers, some are shepherds, others are poodles, some are mastiffs and some are mixed-breed pit bulls... however, the Montreal SPCA does not consider breed-specific legislation to be an effective or practical solution to this problem."

With additional reporting from Amanda Kline and Max Harrold