Dangerous dog trial hears of deadly attack

A Prince George woman is once again at the centre of a dangerous dog trial.

Alyssa Dionne has been identified as the owner of one of two dogs seized by a city bylaw services officer after they allegedly killed another dog living in a nearby home in the 1400 block of Nation Crescent during the early morning of July 20, 2022. 

In December 2017, a judge ordered that two pit bulls Dionne owned be destroyed after finding them responsible for a series of attacks on other dogs and of menacing people while being allowed to run loose.

Dionne's father, Joseph, is also listed as a defendant in the latest case although her sister, Montana Munroe, has been identified as the owner of the other dog.

According to testimony heard Wednesday, Brianna Wilson, a then-neighbour who no longer lives in the area, heard a yelp shortly before 5:30 a.m., looked out her front window and saw two "pit bull type" dogs hovering over what turned out to be a small 13-year-old Maltese named Buddy on her neighbour's front lawn across the road. 

"I didn't seen them specifically biting or anything, but they were down at the base of the back of him and at his neck," the court was told.

The two ran off as she and her neighbour, who owned the Maltese, approached the scene.

"He (the Maltese) was laying on the grass. He had blood on his neck, his stomach and his back...and he was struggling to breath," the court heard.

Both the RCMP and animal control were quickly called. With no veterinarian open at that time of day, Buddy soon died.

As he turned onto Nation Crescent, Prince George RCMP Cpl. Oscar Rivas said he saw a man who identified himself as Joseph Dionne looking around. When told two large brown dogs were on the loose and had reportedly killed another dog, Joseph Dionne replied that he was "not surprised." 

"He said he was watching them at his house and when he opened the door, they escaped," Rivas said.

Their conversation over, Rivas soon saw the two dogs that met the description running along Nation Crescent and then Joseph Dionne letting them into his home, one half of a duplex at 1485 Nation Cres., and closing the door behind him. 

After learning there were warrants for arrests of some of the home's occupants, Rivas and another officer entered the home and went down to the basement where they could hear the dogs barking from one of the rooms. With a taser and a gun drawn, they gained entry and found a woman and a man holding the dogs back.

"The dogs were barking, snarling, trying to lunge and get out of their grasp," Rivas said.

Animal control officer Lana Korabek arrived to find "a lot of chaos" but was able to use a "catch pole" to retrieve the two dogs and put them in cages in the back of her truck. She said one the dogs, described as "tall and skinny" appeared more aggressive than the other "short and stocky" one and that it appeared that Alyssa Dionne owned the gentler of the two, noting that she was "upset, tearful and shaking" as it was loaded into the cage.

It also turns out that they were the two dogs that were "broken out" of the BC SPCA shelter on Aug. 5, 2022. Eleven days later, they were found at a camp in some trees off Winnipeg Street and returned to the SPCA, the court was told.

The trial centres on two applications to destroy the dogs, said to be known as Nixon and Freya, and on a handful of alleged violations of city bylaws by Alyssa and Joseph Dionne.

The trial began without either defendant in attendance after the court was told the two repeatedly failed to respond to emails from the prosecutor. However, Alyssa Dionne appeared after much of the day's testimony was heard and has been given a chance to hear a recording of testimony heard so far.

The trial will continue at a later date.