Another Maple Ridge resident is nursing dog-bite injuries following an attack on a Laityview elementary student on June 17.
Andrew Timms, 10, was part of a group of students on field trip cycling along the Alouette River dike near Jerry Sulina Park when a German-shepherd-type dog attacked.
“He grabbed on to the right side of his hip … pulled a chunk of skin and pulled him down off his bike and on to the ground,” said Shannon Timms.
The unleashed dog was with its owner along the banks of the Alouette River when it ran up on the bank and towards the group of students. It approached other students, but then focused on Andrew.
She wasn’t there when it happened, but picked her son up and took him to a medical clinic. He missed two or three days of school and had to skip the year-end field trip to Cultus Lake water slides.
“That’s disappointing.”
Shannon said her was so traumatized by the event that after leaving the doctor’s office he threw up in the car.
“While this was happening, the SPCA contacted me, saying I had to immediately come in to make a statement.”
But it’s what happened after the attack that bothers Shannon as much as seeing her son injured.
She said the manner in which her son was questioned when he made the report made it seem as if he was being coached in order to minimize the impact of the dog attack.
“It was almost like they didn’t care about what happened.”
There have been no apologies at any time and the police don’t have a record of the incident, which was reported by the school principal. But that could be because the police just recorded the incident, rather than proceed with a formal report.
“Nobody seemed to take any repercussions about anything.”
Andrew’s bike also needs repairing, she pointed out.
“It’s super-traumatic, extremely stressful for whole family, really.”
Maple Ridge SPCA manager Charity Long was surprised to hear Shannon’s comments and will talk to the officer involved.
“I don’t think that we’d ever try to minimize a dog bite.”
Every dog bite is taken very seriously, she added.
SPCA and Ridge Meadows RCMP haven’t located the owner or the dog that attacked Dave Soderman on June 5 outside a corner store on Lougheed Highway and 222nd Street. He took at least seven bites and lost a week of work when a beige-and-white dog described as a pit bull attacked him as he left the store.
The owner of the store where the attack happened has provided Soderman a copy of the security video showing the possible owner in the store just before the dog attacked.