80-year-old woman receives 9 stitches after ‘unprovoked’ dog attack in Toronto

Toronto Police Services are searching for a dog that attacked an 80-year-old woman in the intersection of Dundas Street West and Dufferin Street.

An 80-year-old woman is recovering following an “unprovoked” dog attack just steps from her Little Portugal home that left her with nine stitches.

On Wednesday, at around 10:45 a.m., Natalia Santos had just begun walking to her seniors program and was waiting to cross the street at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Dufferin Street when a dog suddenly bit her arm.

“I was on the sidewalk like normal and suddenly a lady comes with the dog,” Santos told CTV News Toronto. “The dog passed by and grabbed my arm and bit me... I yelled and said, ‘What’s going on?’”

Santos was by herself at the time of the attack, but people in the area quickly rushed to her aid.

A witness told Santos’ family that the dog released her almost immediately and someone nearby had a first-aid kit and wrapped up Santos’ wounds before she was taken to the hospital where she received nine stitches.

“There were two owners with the dog, and the dog just suddenly attacked,” Santos’ daughter, Patti Zwolak, said, recounting what one of the witnesses told her.

“I don’t think (my mom) realized it was bleeding, but there were some bystanders in a vehicle who... got out of the car and they assisted my mom to the sidewalk and called the ambulance from there.”

Zwolak said the witnesses also informed her that the dog was aggressive and that it was jumping as it was crossing the street. They also claimed the owner was “kind of” hitting it.

Santos said the owners were very sorry after the attack, but she still wishes people would be more watchful with their dogs.

“Be careful and always put the leash on a dog, no matter if they are good or not,” she said. “That lady told me, ‘He’s very good. He never did that (before), ’but he did.”

A photo obtained by CTV News of the dog in question shows it on a leash, but Santos said it wasn’t on one when she was attacked.

Both Toronto police and Toronto Animal Services confirmed to CTV News they are investigating the incident.

“Toronto Animal Services has contacted us and they’ve given us some recommendations and whether or not my mom is going to have a rabies prevention shot,” Zwolak said. “She had a tetanus shot as well (at the hospital) for prevention.”

Santos said she’s feeling “a little bit” better and the family is waiting to hear the results of the tests their mother did at the hospital and more on the investigation.