A North Vancouver woman is hoping the owner of a dog that allegedly fatally bit her dog in Inter River Park last week will come forward in order to ensure that no one else’s pooch is put in harm’s way.
Leora Zalik says her 12-year-old Yorkshire terrier Lita was killed Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. inside the park’s southern entrance near St. Denis Avenue after a dog described as one of three white shepherd-like canines bit and shook her.
“I turned around to lift her up and she was up in the air firmly held in the mouth of the smallest of the three dogs … and being shaken violently. She was being killed,” Zalik said.
“I picked her up, I didn’t know how badly hurt she was, but knowing what had just happened I didn’t expect her to survive.”
The incident occurred in an off-leash area of Inter River Park. Zalik said the offending dog had a piece of yellow, nylon rope attached to its collar.
After Zalik’s dog was bitten, she said the only thing on her mind was to immediately get Lita to an emergency veterinary hospital.
After a preliminary visit to Canada West Veterinary Specialists, Zalik ended up at Burrard Animal Hospital and Emergency in Vancouver.
Zalik received the unfortunate news a few hours later. “The phone rang far too soon and I was told that she died on the table,” she said.
Zalik said that she has previously suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and Lita had been her emotional support dog.
Since Lita’s passing, she’s had more trouble coping. “Every time I closed my eyes for the first, I don’t know, four days, all I saw was her getting killed over and over and over again,” she said.
A file was opened with District of North Vancouver animal welfare officers the day after Lita was killed.
The district has combed its files in search of three white-shepherd like dogs registered with the municipality, but so far nothing has turned up.
District spokeswoman Stephanie Smiley said animal welfare officers were doing everything they could to locate the dog and its owner.
“We’re continuing to patrol the area and we’ve also reached out to other local municipalities to see if we can locate the dog and its owner that way, if by chance it’s a dog from another nearby municipality,” Smiley said.
She added that so far this year there have been 19 aggressive dog-related complaints filed with the district.
Now Zalik said her hope is that the woman who owns the white shepherd-like dog will come forward and the proper protocol can take place so that another incident doesn’t occur in the future.
Zalik said in the rush to get Lita to an emergency veterinary clinic, she didn’t get contact information from the woman who owned the dog.
“I want to find her,” she said. “I’m a dog lover. I don’t hate this dog. I just want everybody to be safe.”
