A brave dog owner is warning people to beware after he jumped in to save the life of his pet from the jaws of what he believed were two pit-bull-type dogs on Tuesday night.
Ivano Bicego said the two dogs, with no sign of an owner, sprinted towards his five-year-old Australian cattle dog Kelli – who he had let off-leash to pee - about 9:45 p.m. in Walter Lee elementary park.
Within a couple of seconds, Bicego said one of the pit-bulls was tearing at Kelli’s neck, while the other mauled her back.
He ran over and tried desperately to free his dog by punching and kicking her two attackers.
But they only let loose of their grip when Bicego decided to smash them with the buckle-end of Kelli’s leash.
“I was 20 yards away and I remember shouting, ‘holy shit’ and running over,” recalled Bicego, who has been walking his dogs in the park for 18 years without incident.
“They were pit-bulls for sure, I know what they look like. They had latched onto her and were savaging her. They were going to kill her for sure. They just wouldn’t let go.
“I was on my knees, punching these dogs. Someone on a bike arrived and said something about his dogs being good dogs. I swore at him and told him to get his dogs off.”
Bicego said Kelli got free and tried to run away, but one of the pit-bulls caught her and started mauling her again.
“Again I started hitting it with the buckle and on the third strike it let go,” he added.
“I’m not sure if the owner then said something to the dogs, but he took off on his bike and they followed him.”
Bicego said he immediately called the RCMP and then rushed Kelli to a 24-hour vet in Vancouver.
She was treated for four deep bite wounds on her neck and six or seven on her back.
“She’s doing better now. But she’s going to continue to need treatment for all the bites. They’re going to do an ultrasound on her to see how deep the bite marks go into her skin,” explained Bicego.
“She might need more surgery on her infected skin. The bill is already at more than $1,000. Kelli is traumatized but doing OK. She’s eating her food and seems happy enough.”
Amazingly, Bicego escaped the incident completely unharmed.
“Not a scratch. I never even thought about my own safety, I just had to jump in. They were going to kill her,” he said.
“I couldn’t stand by and watch that. I guess I’m kind of lucky.”
Bicego recalls the dogs being light grey or brown and their owner being white, aged 25-30, wearing a ball cap and hoody, which were maybe brown. He was riding a distinctive BMX-style bike, with high, V-shaped handlebars.
Richmond RCMP confirmed that officers did respond to an incident and conducted extensive patrols in the area.
“I won’t be going back there with Kelli. But I’ll be going back to look for him,” added Bicego.
“Be on your toes over there. I’d hate to think what would have happened if it was a smaller dog, or a small child.”
