On Wednesday, two pit bulls were running loose in a playground when one targeted the boy, biting him on the face, ear and knee before the teenager intervened, according to Lethbridge police. The girl, employed by the YWCA, was also bitten by the dog as she tried to protect the boy. “She acted like a mother,” said Sayma Refat, whose son Saihan was released from hospital. “This girl, she is not our relative, she is not our family, but she protected my son.”
YWCA ‘proud and grateful’ for workers’ actions
Refat called the girl an “angel” and teared up at the thought of what could have happened if the counselor hadn’t intervened. The staff member was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. “We are proud and grateful for the quick response of our staff yesterday,” said Jill Young, CEO of the Lethbridge YWCA. The attack happened around noon Wednesday, at the end of the morning session of the YWCA day camp. Refat says she was waiting for her son around noon when she and other parents learned that a child had been attacked by a dog in the yard of Dr. Gerald B. Probe.
“He’s injured”
Twenty minutes later, he received a call that it was Saihan who had been injured. The boy’s father rushed to the hospital to be by his side. Chaihan needed stitches for the wounds to his face. “He’s injured,” Refat said. “I’m injured.” Back at the school, one of the dogs was found with its owner. The other was discovered in a nearby yard. “After approximately an hour of searching the area, officers located both dogs,” according to a statement from Community Animal Services.
Mother wants to meet “angel”
The Lethbridge agency has impounded both dogs pending its investigation. Refat says she wants a thorough investigation to prevent this from happening to another child, but doesn’t want to see any of the dogs euthanized. “All dog owners should be responsible, they should have properly trained their dog,” Refat said. “They should be supervising all the time.” As for her little angel of a son: “I will try to meet her.” This is the second time in the past six weeks that pit bulls have been seized in southern Alberta after attacking people. On June 5, Betty Ann Williams, 86, was fatally mauled by three dogs in a back alley while gardening in northwest Calgary. The City of Calgary filed an application in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench requesting that the three dogs be euthanized. Authorities believe the dogs are a mix of a North American Pit Bull Terrier, a North American Staffordshire mix and an American Pit Bull.
