Owner defends dog killed for attacking police

Gerard Brewer's pit bull Hena walks on a dock outside his houseboat in Delta, B.C. Brewer's other pit bull, Diesel, was shot and killed by police officers who said the dog attacked them and their police dog. (CTV)

A pit bull was shot and killed and an officer is recovering from a bite wound after a routine patrol on Annacis Island turned violent Saturday night.

Delta police said two officers and a police dog were walking along the shoreline near the 700-block of Chester Road when they were charged by two pit bulls.

Police said one officer struck one of the attacking dogs with his baton, causing it to flee, but the other pit bull bit the second officer’s hand and then attacked the police dog.

After trying to fend off the attack the officer was forced to fire his gun, fatally wounding the pit bull with one shot, police said.

The owner of the six-year-old pit bull, named Diesel, said he was asleep at around 10:30 p.m. when the altercation happened.

“I was in bed asleep, Diesel went out rushing, I heard bang bang bang, that’s it,” said Gerard Brewer, who resides in a houseboat under the Annacis Channel Bridge.

Brewer claimed his son Mike and his girlfriend arrived shortly after and the pair were immediately arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice. They were also accused of setting the dogs loose on police.

Brewer denied those accusations, saying there’s been bad blood between him and police ever since he parked his houseboat under the bridge two years ago.

He said his dog Mary was put down by authorities last year, and Mike Brewer said the houseboat has previously been raided by police.

“We all got arrested for possession of stolen property, they never found any. The charges were dropped,” Mike Brewer said.

As for the dogs, he said they aren’t the vicious animals they were made out to be.

“All of our dogs that we’ve ever had are the most friendly dogs you’ll ever meet,” he said. “They’d never ever even think of biting a person.”

Just across the water in Queensborough, a resident familiar with the derelict houseboat is asking why Brewer can live where he does without paying moorage.

“We tried to have the houseboat removed, then we got referred to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, they weren’t it,” Tom Nichols said. “Then it was referred to the Attorney General and they’re trying to hang an injunction to have it removed and it’s still sitting there.”

Nichols also said police suspected somebody living in the houseboat of committing a series of burglaries that took place in his neighbourhood.

“We don’t know if they’re responsible for everything, but the major break-ins, the police in New Westminster suspect that’s who did it.”

Brewer said he doesn’t want to stay in the houseboat, which occupies federal waters, but he needs to do numerous repairs before he can move it.

Meanwhile, the officer bitten in Saturday’s incident was taken to hospital where he received stitches for his wound, while the police dog suffered puncture wounds to the head, ear and eye area. The dog is still receiving medical attention, police said.

Police are conducting an operational review into the incident.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jonathan Woodward