Sask. woman says neighbour’s dogs attacked, killed her dog

Corla Berg can’t bring herself to go anywhere near her home.

Last month, Berg let her dog outside of her home in the RM of North Battleford as she normally does throughout the day. But this time three of her neighbour’s dogs chased Gucci, her 12-year-old miniature schnauzer, inside before bursting through the screen door and attacking and killing Gucci.

“The terror of just my dog crying,” Berg said from her daughter’s home, where she’s stayed since the traumatic attack. “And then they dragged her out into the middle of the dining room floor — there was blood everywhere, it even went up on to the light fixtures in my kitchen — and she laid there and took her last breath.”

Berg attempted to intervene once the dogs entered her home, but she got out of the way when one of the dogs turned and began moving towards her.

Fearing for her own life, Berg jumped on top of her kitchen island. She says she began screaming and throwing plates at the dogs to try and make them stop.

“There was glass and blood everywhere,” she said. “They finally left once they saw that she (Gucci) was dead.”

Berg said she refuses to return home while the animals remain next door.

“I’m so fearful for my neighbours — they have small children,” Berg said. “What happens if they attack someone again?”

Berg said she doesn’t know much about her next door neighbours. She only met one of the owners once when she greeted them to the area only a week earlier — offering up freshly baked brownies.

RCMP have investigated the situation with help from Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan. The RCMP can speak to an animal owner and request cooperation, but are limited beyond that.

Finding a resolution to the incident is a challenge, especially during a global pandemic.

Since the dog attack wasn’t criminal in nature it falls under the Municipalities Act in Saskatchewan and therefore is up to a judge to decide what to do with the dogs. All complaints of alleged dangerous animals must be heard by a provincial court judge or qualified justice of the peace.

Berg is requesting the dogs be put down.

While not being involved in this particular case since the alleged attack wasn’t part of the Animal Protection Act, Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan Executive Director Don Ferguson offered up some expertise.

He said police agencies often call them for assistance during attacks like this.

“An animal can be declared dangerous with an attack in a vicious manner or even (if the animal) approached a person or domestic animal in an attack, is known to attack without provocation or has bitten or attacked a person without provocation,” Ferguson said.

If the animals are declared dangerous, there are a number of scenarios that can occur, including having the animals destroyed.

“(The Municipalities Act) basically takes the decision making process out of say the responding officer responding to a complaint and puts it on the judge to make that determination,” Ferguson said.

Penalties vary across the province as each municipality can enforce its own bylaws. Some of them include fines up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to six months and the court may even make additional orders if the animal isn’t destroyed like forcing the animal to certain areas, being constantly leashed and muzzled or staying in an enclosure.

A hearing date for Justin Keller, the owner of three dogs, has been set.

With a backlog of cases in the provincial court system due to COVID-19, Berg suspects the court date will be pushed back further into the summer or fall.

Adding to the complex issue is Berg’s intentions to sell her home. She said her realtor won’t approach the home without another passenger in her vehicle. Even Berg’s friends and family refuse to get anywhere near the area.

Seeing any dog breed that resembles the Staffordshire bull terrier — the breed of the three dogs, according to Berg —brings back haunting memories.

“I saw a dog that looked just like that the other day during my bike ride and I started to have a panic attack,” she said. “It’s so hard to repeat. They were like three soldiers coming through my screen door.”

Berg has been seeking help for her mental health since the alleged attack.

With nothing but fond memories of Gucci, Berg is thanking her closest companion for becoming a hero when it mattered most.

“She was 12, but she was healthy and happy and had so much life in her,” Berg said. “She had so much spunk in her. She was the love of my life and she saved my life that day.”