Allan dog owner says roaming dogs are ‘unbelievably loving’

One of the owners of a pack of dogs that many in the town of Allan say have been attacking children, people and pets over the last year, says they’re actually wonderful pets.

Jacob Hanson said he’s lived with his father Kelly Hanson in the town of 644 people on and off over the last five years. At one time the pair had eight dogs in the home, before a town bylaw limited the number to just four.

“I now live in the city, but I consider the four dogs that he owns right now to be mine as well. So they’re my dogs,” he said

The dogs, he said, get out of the yard through a dilapidated fence he and his father have tried to patch on numerous occasions, adding they both wanted to build a new fence to keep their animals in their yard, but a neighbour wouldn’t allow it.

Allan residents are concerned for their safety, as a pack of aggressive dogs regularly escape and roam through the town. (Gloria Stephanson/Submitted)

He admitted the large animals did get out on a regular basis.

“We don’t let them go,” he explained. “We’re not sitting at home going, ‘Ah, they’re out running around.’ We’re desperately trying to get them back into our property.”

And he was adamant that the animals he and his father own, wouldn’t intentionally harm people.

“So when they get out, they are excited,” Jacob said. “They have their brothers with them. They are running. They’re sprinting around. They love people. They come running up to someone thinking that that’s not a problem.

“They run up to everyone they see at a house, but people get freaked out, which is understandable. It’s four or five dogs coming at you that you don’t know, but they are just coming to say hi.”

Town mayor Bonnie Lewis said numerous bylaw infraction tickets had been issued to Kelly Hanson, which were all paid. But that didn’t put an end to the animals getting out.

Lewis said the most recent incident allegedly occurred on Aug. 14. A woman was walking her dog near the swimming pool when she was knocked to the ground by the dogs, adding that the victim needed a tetanus shot, while her small dog was also injured. A petition has also been started, calling for the removal of the dogs from the town. It has been signed by more than 334 people.

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Jacob told CKOM in an interview on Thursday, he and his father were doing their best.

“They’re, absolutely the sweetest dogs of all time… I would love for you to meet me in person and talk and you could see for yourself how unbelievably loving and sweet they are. They are just dogs. They’re excited,” he said.

He defended his father, saying while he wasn’t always the most likeable person, he’s a great dog owner.

“He is just as panicked when they get out as any other person,” he said. “That’s his whole world, the dogs, as they are mine.”

Soon, he said the dogs roaming around the town won’t be an issue.

“The dogs are no longer in Allan, as my dad will no longer be there,” he said, adding that they will now be on an acreage somewhere outside of the town.