A retired Keremeos couple is in mourning after their 22-month-old Scottish Terrier was attacked and killed by a larger dog on Canada Day.
The Scottish Terrier, named Isla, died of wounds it received when it was attacked by a large dog that came running out of a yard of the Keremeos home where it resides.
Isla鈥檚 owners, Bunny and Cathie Wells, said Isla was well known and beloved in the Keremeos community.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been getting flowers, cards. She was just so well known,鈥� said Cathie. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very emotional, she was our baby.鈥�
Keremeos RCMP Cpl. Chad Parsons told Black Press Media Isla was being walked on-leash by Bunny in a residential neighbourhood when she attacked by a larger dog.
Bunny said he had stopped to talk to the dog鈥檚 owner who was out in his front yard, when the large unleashed dog came running out of the back yard and attacked Isla.
Bunny described the incident as a horrific attack in which Isla was 鈥渞ipped apart鈥� in under a minute.
Bunny was also bit on both hands by the larger dog when trying to remove it from Isla. He required a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
Isla was rushed to a vet in Oliver, who made an attempt to stitch Isla back together but the family pet was rushed back to the vet under 24 hours later where she died.
Police and bylaw enforcement are both investigating the incident, said Parsons.
At present, bylaw has classified the larger dog as 鈥渁ggressive,鈥� meaning it must be kept in the house, or in a contained yard, or wear a muzzle when outside.
Bunny and Cathie would like to see the dog put down, as they believe it is likely to attack again.
If the larger dog鈥檚 classification is changed to 鈥渄angerous鈥� it would be removed from the community, Parsons said.
Bunny and Cathie haven鈥檛 spoken to the larger dog鈥檚 owner since the attack, at the advice of the RCMP. But police told the Wells鈥� that the owner was offering to pay for vet bills for Isla, Cathie said.
When asked what she would say to the dog鈥檚 owner, Cathie was straight-forward.
鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 pretty bad, you should get rid of that horrible beast because once they attack like that it won鈥檛 stop,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e devastated. Everybody that knows us and Isla, which is the majority of the town, is missing her badly.鈥�
RCMP and bylaw will continue to investigate the incident which may be taken to court where the fate of the larger dog would be determined, said Cathie.
| Bunny Wells and his Scottish Terrier, Isla, who was killed when attacked by a larger dog on July 1, 2021. (Contributed) |
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