Animal services investigating dog attack in New Westminster

New Westminster's animal services department continues to investigate after two dogs attacked a man and another dog two weeks ago.

Earl MacDonald says his neighbour was walking his dog for him when they were attacked by a pair of dogs whose owners had let them go off-leash.

MacDonald said it took three people to free his dog from the jaws of the attacking dog.

"My dog is like Frankenstein right now," MacDonald said. "The back of his neck has just been patched back together."

MacDonald's neighbour also sustained injuries to his hand, arm, legs and back from the owner's second dog.

New Westminster police responded to the initial incident, which happened on the evening of August 11, but the investigation has since been handed over primarily to Animal Services.

Neither police nor Animal Services wereable to identify the owners of the attacking dogs. They were also unable to confirm the dogs' breed, but based on video taken by a passerby, MacDonald believes they were pit bulls.

"It's a bully-style breed of dog, but [Animal Services doesn't] know if it's a confirmed pit bull or a cross or a mix or another breed in that category," said acting Sgt. Jeff Scott of the New Westminster Police Department.

Scott said dog owners in New Westminster are required to keep their animals on a leash in public at all times, except in designated off-leash areas.

He said the owners of the dogs involved in this incident could face anything from a warning to criminal charges and the seizure of the dogs, depending on the investigation's findings.

With files from Lien Yeung