Adam Perret had just let his two dogs out on the northern end of Grafton Avenue near Coombs and was rolling a cigar in his truck to go with his morning coffee when he heard a yelp.
Perret, who lives in his camper, looked back to see one of his dogs, a nine-year-old Boxer-Rottweiler-Karelian Bear Dog mix called Magic, with “half of his face peeled off” by a machete slash, he said.
Const. Tim Kenning of Oceanside RCMP said the dog was struck by a machete on Thursday after it acted aggressively toward a couple walking on a nearby trail and bit one of the two on the leg.
“In self-defence to stop the attack the dog was struck,” Kenning said in a statement. “The couple felt saddened for injuring the dog but felt they had to defend themselves.”
Kenning said the incident is a good reminder for dog owners to leash their pets, especially if they have a tendency to act aggressively.
Oceanside RCMP said Monday they are not recommending charges after they identified and spoke to all parties in the incident.
Perret, however, denies that his dog bit anyone, and he questioned why the couple was carrying a machete on the trail, as it would make more sense to bring pepper spray or bear bangers as wildlife deterrents. “If you come across a bear in the forest, you don’t stab it,” said Perret.
Nena Henrickson, practice manager at i-Care veterinary hospital who treated the dog following the attack, said the laceration that Perret’s dog experienced went “right down to the skull” and scored the bone.
Multiple layers of sutures were needed, she said.
The emergency surgery was paid for by the veterinary hospital’s discretionary fund, which provides aid in extreme situations where an animal owner is not able to pay for necessary medical treatments, Henrickson said.
