A Prince George woman is no longer allowed to be a dog owner after she was found responsible for a fatal attack by her two pit bulls on another dog.
The verdict against Alyssa Dionne, issued Wednesday, stems from a July 20, 2022 attack in which a neighbour's much smaller dog was killed after Freya and Nixon escaped from her 1400-block Nation Crescent home.
Dionne was not home at the time - they escaped when her father, Joseph Dionne, opened the home's front door - but Provincial Court Judge Cassandra Malfair found Alysssa Dionne was the "day-to-day caregiver" and responsible for the dogs' behaviour that led to the outcome, described as an "unprovoked and fatal attack."
It was the second time in less than five years that Dionne has been found guilty of owning dangerous dogs.
In December 2017, a judge ordered that two other pit bulls Dionne owned at the time be destroyed after finding them responsible for a series of attacks on other dogs and of menacing people while being allowed to run loose.
That verdict was issued after a multi-day trial. This time, Dionne showed up belatedly on the first day the matter was before the court. It was put off for six months to give Dionne a chance to put together a case but she did not appear and has not attended any of the proceedings since.
In addition to noting Dionne's history of owning dangerous dogs, the judge said Dionne failed to properly train Freya and Nixon to mitigate their aggression and ensure they were secure at all times including in her absence.
"They were not licensed, Freya was not spayed and was in estrous at the time of the attack," Malfair added and noted that when police entered the home to retrieve the dogs, they pulled out their Tasers and pepper spray and were ready to shoot the dogs as they snarled and lunged while being held back by the home's occupants.
Citing testimony from an expert witness on canine behaviour, Malfair also found the dogs beyond rehabilitation, noting their aggressiveness towards people and especially towards other dogs. Putting them in a home with children is out of the question and they would have to be muzzled and require professional support in any other setting, the judge found, and ordered they be destroyed. However, she suspended the order for 30 days to give Dionne a chance to appeal the decision.
Also still to be decided is how much each of the Dionnes be fined. Crown is recommending levies adding up to $2,400 for Alyssa Dionne and $1,200 for Joseph Dionne. Arrest warrants were issued for the two in order to bring them before the court at a later date to answer to the proposals.
