The woman in charge of a pit-bull terrier who police say mauled the face of a visitor to her home, is claiming the incident was a “total accident.”
Vefa Nejad said her 15-month-old dog, called Hugo, was only trying to bite the strap on the 54-year-old female victim’s handbag.
Nejad — who was looking after the dog, which is owned by her 20-year-old son — said the woman, identified only as Sophie, was visiting Sunday with her daughter at the single-family home on Dennis Crescent and was bending down to pet Hugo when he lunged at the strap and apparently “nipped” her face by accident.
Even though Nejad told the Richmond News that she and her son were warned two months ago by the City of Richmond after Hugo bit their landlord, she said the dog is a “very friendly puppy, who just doesn’t know his strength.”
And she claimed that the victim — who required emergency facial surgery — and her daughter have already called the city to explain that the incident was an accident and are pleading not to have Hugo put down.
“My friend’s mother was insistent that I let Hugo off the leash, she just kept asking and asking, saying it would be alright,” a distraught Nejad told the News on Wednesday.
“So I let Hugo off the leash, but I didn’t want to. He was just sitting there when the mother bent down to pet him.
“She had a handbag around her body and when she bent down, the strap of the bag went across her face. Hugo jumped up to bite the strap and nipped her face by accident. It was a total accident.”
Nejad said both the victim and her friend started screaming and that “Hugo was scared. He didn’t know what was going on; these people were freaking out.
“I was able to get Hugo into his kennel and then the ambulance came for the mother.”
It was then that Richmond Mounties arrived at the scene, near Steveston Highway and No. 4 Road, on Sunday evening.
According to police, the officers were unable to enter the home until the owner confined the dog to a kennel and muzzled it.
The dog was apparently at a “heightened state of aggression with boisterous barking and wild movements heard through the door to the residence,” police said. It had been communicated to the officers that the victim had already left the home and was en route to hospital.
However, Nejad claims her dog was already in the kennel when the police arrived. “The police officer that came in kept saying how quiet he was,” she added.
Shortly after the incident, police followed up with the victim at Richmond Hospital and were told that the 65-kilogram, male pit-bull became unexpectedly aggressive towards the victim before mauling her face.
The dog was apprehended by a city bylaw officer, pending an investigation. It’s now being held in isolation at the Richmond Animal Protection Society’s shelter on No. 5 Road.
In terms of the biting incident with her landlord two months ago, Nejad said the family received a warning and were told that he must be muzzled and on a leash at all times.
She added that there are strangers coming in and out of the rented basement suite below her and that “Hugo gets a bit distressed.”
Nejad said, since the incident, a city bylaw officer has been to her door twice, asking her to sign a document permitting Hugo to be euthanized.
“But we want to fight for him. He’s just a puppy,” she said.
City spokesperson Ted Townsend said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case, as it was still under investigation.
“Given the circumstances, we will do an assessment that addresses the need to provide for public safety, while also considering the animal’s welfare,” added Townsend.
“Once the investigation is complete, we would seek to reach a voluntary agreement with the owner on our recommended actions.”
If the city and the dog owner can’t agree on the action to be taken, the city would then consider legal action, Townsend explained.
Dog spared its life
Meanwhile, a dog that attacked a mailman last month on Lucas Road has been spared its life by the City of Richmond.
The owner, thought by area residents to be the maid of an empty home, will have to build a reinforced enclosure for the German Shepherd to prevent it from escaping the property.
The mauling left the mailman with serious lacerations to his legs.
