‘They’re going to rip us apart’: Moms describe attack by dogs that mauled four-year-old girl in Oshawa

Two Oshawa moms are speaking out after a dog attack left them both bitten - and a four-year-old girl badly mauled. Jon Woodward reports.

Two moms from Oshawa are speaking out after a harrowing attack from two dogs left both of them bitten and a young girl badly mauled.

Pictures shared by the child’s mom taken at a hospital show multiple punctures on the face of four-year-old Ryleigh, some very close to her eye as well as her upper arm.

The two women, Ryleigh’s mother Kayla Silva and Tejanna Desiree, have serious questions about how municipal authorities handled the case, and whether the dogs are still a danger.

‘(The attack) lives in my head rent-free’

“My daughter ends up having to get eight stitches on her face, she’s got wounds on her arms, and the whole experience of having to watch her go through something like this lives in my head rent-free, and it will for the rest of my life,” recalled Silva.

“I cried for three days after this happened because I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Silva and her daughter often visit Desiree and her two-year-old son Atticus for dinner on Tuesdays, and were heading there on Jan. 13.

That day two dogs came bounding out of the townhouse next door, jumping on Ryleigh and biting her in the face. Her mom dove in to protect her.

“I just kind of go into panic mode and I grab the dog as best I can and get it off her,” Silva said.

“I have this one dog on my arm and then I feel another animal come from behind me and jump on my back, and all I can think is they’re going to rip us apart. Like, we’re both going to die.”

That’s when Desiree said she opened the door to see the chaos, and she leapt into action, pulling the dogs off her friends.

“For about 20 or 30 seconds I was just screaming for help. Kayla was screaming for help. I’m kicking the dogs. I’m trying to grab them and push them off her,” she said.

“All the while, they’re biting me and grabbing onto me.”

The dogs’ owners then came out and stopped the attack, Desiree said.

“Riley looks down and there’s blood pouring from her face and all over her arms, and she starts screaming,” she said.

The pair then called 9-1-1 and police arrived. Paramedics took them to a nearby hospital.

Desiree showed CTV News Toronto the shirt she was wearing that day, which has a large blood stain.

Durham Regional Police Service confirmed to CTV News Toronto that they responded to the attack just before 5 p.m. that day.

On Jan. 20, an Oshawa bylaw officer issued an animal control order to the owners of the dogs, who are listed on the order as Melissa Bolton and Jeff Kirkham.

It requires that the dogs, described as American Bulldogs named Molly and Max, be kept muzzled and leashed except when they are on the premises of their owner.

A video, seen by CTV News Toronto, seems to indicate that the dogs were muzzled as ordered recently.

A sign outside that unit doesn’t mention any animal control order. It just says, “Crazy dogs live here. Do not knock. They will bark. I will yell. Sh*t will get real.”

CTV News Toronto rang the doorbell of that home.

The man who answered spoke from behind an almost closed door, as dogs could be heard barking in the background, and denied any attack took place.

“There’s no attack. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nope, that didn’t happen. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a nice day,” he said before locking the door.

Oshawa’s bylaw office didn’t respond to CTV News Toronto’s questions on Tuesday.

Coun. Jim Lee, who represents the area, said he’s looking into the city’s response.

“I have put our bylaw department on notice that I want to know when the investigation is over and what’s the outcome,” he said.

Lee also said he’s open to more strict requirements for dangerous dog owners.

In 2024, the City of Toronto passed new rules aimed at protecting the public, including requiring owners whose dogs have been classified as dangerous to display clear signage. Failing to display these signs can lead to fines of up to $615 or a court-issued fine of up to $100,000.

Toronto also has a dangerous dog registry that can be searched by the public.

• READ MORE: Officials to visit all dangerous dog owners in Toronto as new compliance measures go in effect

Desiree, meanwhile, says city officials in Durham Region should be taking a much harsher line in the wake of such a terrible attack.

She said the muzzling in public requirement, however, makes little difference as the dogs were in a private residence when they escaped.

“If an attack like this happens, animal control should be coming (and) removing these animals immediately. It shouldn’t be a question. It’s public safety,” Desiree said.

For now, she’s keeping a baseball bat at her door to protect her child in case those dogs get out again.