Mom Wants Aggressive Dog 'Destroyed'

Following an attack by a neighbourhood dog, a 7-year-old girl's mom is fighting to have the dog destroyed. 

Audrey Mountfort was playing with her sister in a friend's backyard when Panny, a German shepherd-collie mix bit her cheeks, requiring 40 stitches. 

According to an article in the Star, Panny, a rescue dog from Panama, belonged to a pair of neighbourhood veterinarians who had entrusted a neighbour to look after the dog while they were away

“It’s the worst thing I ever saw in my life,” said Audrey's mom, Anna-Maria, recalling her daughter's screams her blood-soaked halter dress. “Her face was gaping.”

Mountfort has sought legal action to put the dog down. She has her work cut out for her; last year only one so-called 'destruction order' was issued in the city by Toronto Animal Services.

“This is not a dog person versus a not-dog-person conversation,” said Mountfort, whose family also has a dog. “An animal that has mauled a child is a danger to society, and that danger needs to be neutralized. The agencies responsible for managing that have failed the public good in this case.”

“(The) neighbour took Panny to her own backyard, where he was left off-leash and unsupervised with a group of unfamiliar children,” said the dog's owner, John Booth.

“When a dog hasn’t shown aggression before, how do you know to say that?” added Hanna Booth, claiming Panny had always been “wonderful with children."

The fact remains, the children were unsupervised around an unknown dog. But the dog-sitter claims she wasn't told the dog needed to be guarded around children.

“We have retained a lawyer and we are going to do everything in our power to ensure our wonderful dog does not get euthanized,” April Douglas, Panny's new owner, told the Star. 

Douglas is said to be in breach of the Dog Owner’s Liability Act, which states that a dog could be destroyed if “[it] has bitten or attacked a person or domestic animal or that . . . the dog is a menace.” 

Should all aggressive dogs be put down, no questions asked? How should this situation be handled?