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Fraser River gravel removal gets the go-ahead Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
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Rita Young, seen here with Petite (left) and Chico, lost her third chihuahua, Tiny, after it was killed by a large dog while on his daily walk on Maple Avenue Friday afternoon. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Attack has pet owner calling for muzzles Jessica Peters The Progress A gory scene that played out on a quiet street last Friday afternoon is being investigated by Chilliwack’s animal control officers. Tiny, a nine-year-old chihuahua, was leashed and heading out for an afternoon walk his daughter, Petite, and best buddy, Chico. They were all on leashes held by their owner. As the trio neared the sidewalk on Maple Avenue, a pair of larger dogs came walking up the sidewalk. They saw the chihuahuas and pulled the woman walking them on their leashes toward the trio. She was unable to hold them back. One of the larger dogs violently attacked Tiny, tearing him in two.
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It all happened very quickly, said owner Rita Young. She heard the commotion from the kitchen, as her husband was taking the dogs out after lunch. By chance, her daughter, granddaughter, and great grandson were all in the yard. Many of them were screaming and crying, and the owner of the larger dogs was also upset. “I ran outside because I was in the house,” Young said, describing the bloody scene in her driveway. “It was just horrible, lots of blood. It was just plain horrible.” Animal control officers from the FVRD responded very quickly to the call, said communications manager Jennifer Kinneman. “The event is still under investi-
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gation,” she said, limiting the detail that can be released. “I can confirm that the offending dog was apprehended by the FVRD.” And while Young said the dogs “looked like they were pit bulls,” Kinneman confirmed that they were not. “It was not a pit bull,” she said. “All animals have the potential to be aggressive and I think it’s the responsibility of the owners to always keep that in mind.” The fate of the dog is unknown as of yet, while officers investigate the incident. The owner gave the dog up without issue, and the dog does not have a known history of being violent. Kinneman did not rule out the possibility that the dog could be put down, but said the decision
would be weighed heavily. “Under our bylaw and under our process, we don’t go down that road very easily,” Kinneman said. “Certainly there are factors to consider and every situation is unique. For sure, this is a horrible, horrible accident.” But Young is hoping that the dog is put down, and more than that she hopes owners of larger dogs will one day be required to have them muzzled in public. “It was a danger to society, that dog,” Young said. “I told them, I want him put down, I have a fiveyear-old child who comes over to see me every day, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.” Continued: DOG/ p6
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Gravel removal by Seabird Island First Nation was approved by both provincial and federal bodies earlier this month. A Land Act tenure was offered and Water Act approval was issued by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations on Friday, Feb. 6. That will allow the Seabird Island Band to remove 105,000 cubic metres of gravel from the Fraser River until the cutoff date of March 15. A provincial ministry official stressed that any impacts to Fraser River habitat from the imminent work will be both monitored and compensated down the line. The reaction from members of the Fraser River Gravel Stewardship Committee came swiftly. “I guess I am shocked. I felt this was one they had good reason to turn down for a number of very legitimate reasons,” wrote Otto Langer, member of the Gravel Stewardship Committee. “The main reasons was that it was habitat and above all was just for commercial gravel mining purposes. “This is a terrible precedent - it opens up the river for commercial gravel mining. Also where is DFO on this one? We are truly in a new industrial era were near everything goes.” The Progress asked provincial ministry officials if the Seabird approval means there is a new willingness to allow commercial gravel removal when not based on flood control reasons. “No. Decisions are made on a caseby-case basis,” replied Greig Bethel, media relations rep for Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. Regarding critics’ allegations that the project will destroy critical fish habitat, Bethel responded that minis-