Judge orders dangerous dogs destroyed

A judge has deemed two dogs at the centre of a series of confrontations and attacks while on the loose to be dangerous and has ordered they be put down.

In issuing her decision Thursday, provincial court judge Shannon Keyes found Bailey and Baby Boy, respectively a female pit bull and one of her offspring, would have killed two smaller dogs had their owners not stepped in.

Keyes also outlined a handful of incidents where they had menaced and lunged at people.

Prior to being seized in August 2016, the two lived in owner Alyssa Dionne's Nation Crescent home. Most of the incidents occurred in the Spruceland neighbourhood. 

Keyes was left unconvinced by Dionne's promise to change her ways if the dogs were returned to her. 

"Despite her protestations to the contrary, I am certain that Ms. Dionne will take no more care to manage her dogs in the future than she has in the past."

The trouble began in August 2015 when Bailey, who had been given to Dionne by a friend, confronted a woman at a bus stop while on the loose. Formerly a "playful puppy," Bailey seemed "almost delirious" at the time, the court was told.

By then she had given birth to 13 pups and all but Baby Boy were taken in by other homes. 

In March 2016, animal control officers seized Bailey after she was found running through a neighbour's yard. She was returned to Dionne after she ensured officers Bailey would remain at home.

But she did not tell officers she had another pit bull and the trouble escalated with the attacks on two smaller dogs over the following months, along with some other incidents. By August, both Bailey and Baby Boy were in the city's custody where they've remained ever since.

An officer who has taken the dogs on walks at the SPCA, using a pole and leash, told the court that Bailey has been friendly to him but has remained aggressive towards other staff while Baby Boy has not warmed up to anyone.

Dionne blamed others for the dogs' escapes, Keyes noted. In one instance, the dogs got loose when workers who were building a deck in her back yard took down part of the home's fence. 

"However, she admits that knowing renovation work was underway, she did not check her yard to see if it was secure before she let Bailey and Baby Boy out," Keyes said. "She said she didn't think she had to babysit while they were doing renovations to her deck and saw no reasons to check."

In her effort to get the dogs returned, Dionne presented photos of a babygate across a stairwell inside the home and of a screen door as examples of the steps she had taken to make the home more secure. But Keyes found they would be ineffective against dogs so large and aggressive.

Dionne also promised to attend dog obedience lessons. But Keyes doubted they would make a difference, noting Dionne suffers from anxiety that has kept her housebound and unwilling to walk the dogs.

"Knowing how to do something does not create the will to do it," Keyes said.

Dionne had also suggested one of the dogs be handed over to a relative in Grande Prairie if it was decided the two could not be returned to her. But Keyes said no evidence was presented to her regarding the relative's ability "to house a large dog with a history of menacing humans and other animals." 

Keyes found the dogs to be dangerous and Dionne incapable of taking care of them. A veterinarian will euthanize the dogs while Dionne was fined $300 for three counts of allowing the dogs to be at large. 

Dionne left the court in tears. Two animal control officers, the owners of one of the dogs who was attacked and one of the people who was menaced were in the gallery to hear the decision.