'The lady's dog might have been dead': Cambridge bylaws in question following serious dog attack

Warning: Readers may find content in this article disturbing.

A Cambridge woman is calling for action after her dog was attacked by two off-leash dogs late last month.

The attack happened along Industrial Road on July 30. Sara Clark was out with her three-year-old Rottweiler, Samoa, when they were ambushed.

“I started screaming,” Clark told CTV News. “There was little I could do because I was holding onto my dog.”

Two male bystanders intervened to separate the dogs.

“If we didn’t show up the lady’s dog might have been dead,” said one of the involved bystanders, who asked not to be named.

The scrap left Clark with a cut to her leg while the dog suffered more than 25 punctures to his head, neck, jaw, and ribs.

Lenox Daley, the owner of the two off-leash dogs, keeps both at a nearby business on Industrial Road.

The two dog owners spoke after the incident.

“[Sara] was obviously very upset and frustrated,” Daley told CTV News.

Daley said he takes responsibility for his pets, but said he wasn’t the reason the dogs got loose.

“Someone was working with me and stepped out for a moment and didn’t close the door,” Daley said. “They used that as an opportunity to escape.”

Daley agreed to pay Clark’s veterinary bills, but she says more should be done by the City of Cambridge.

“There is no bylaw in Cambridge for biting a human or for biting a dog,” Clark said.

The City of Cambridge told CTV News in a statement: “As part of the implementation of the City’s Administrative Penalty System (APS), staff will be undertaking a review of all penalties for bylaw violations. A review of bylaw penalties will include a scan of other municipalities however, it is important to understand that penalty amounts may differ from community to community based on a number of factors that are affecting those specific communities.”

Elsewhere, the City of Kitchener’s penalties are as follows:

Dog running at large / attacks causing injury to another dog

• First offence - $300
• Subsequent offences - $450

Dog attacks causing injury to a person

• First offence - $400
• Subsequent offences - $600

Clark filed a report to the City of Cambridge, asking for the two dogs to receive “dangerous” designation, which would require them to be under short leash and muzzle when out in public. She says she has yet to hear back regarding the request.

“That’s a key piece in making sure that the dogs have higher penalties going forward,” Clark said.

Daley says he agrees with the idea of bringing in stiffer penalties, but not all at once.

“[It should happen] within a scale,” Daley said. “First incident you get a warning, second time you get a heavier fine.”