‘I thought she was going to bleed out’: Dog viciously attacked in Vancouver

VANCOUVER Wash. (KPTV) - Saturday evening a Vancouver family’s lives were turned upside down on a routine dog walk.

While out with their two dogs at Tenny Creek Park just after dark, the family says another man’s dog began violently attacking theirs.

“Time froze,” Dan said, one of the dog’s owners. “I was just on a normal walk and then all of a sudden my reality shifts.”

Walking through the park, he described his two dogs were at either side of him when he walked past a tall, heavyset man, with a gray beard who was dressed in black, with his dog off to his side.

He explained as they passed by them, the leash suddenly jerked. When he looked down, he saw his 35-pound Pitbull/Shar Pei mix, Cairo, in the jaws of another large black or brown dog. He said that dog could have been 70 or 80 pounds.

“It latched onto the neck and wouldn’t let go. It stayed locked onto my dog who was obviously screaming,” Dan said.

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Dan tried to kick the dog and make noise while the attacking dog’s owner tried to wrestle his dog off. Eventually, his dog released Cairo. That’s when he called his wife, Maryorie.

“The voice when he talked,” she recalled, “I knew it was serious.”

Maryorie left their home in her socks. Meanwhile, Dan carried his dog to the street.

“I felt how wet she was, how warm she was. Obviously, she was very bloody,” he said.

He took a photo to document what happened.

“I looked at my dog after snapping that photo. I thought she was going to bleed out in the street right there,” Dan said.

When Maryorie arrived, she wrapped her shirt around the animal while they drove to the vet just five minutes away. The couple’s dog is now being treated in intensive care, and it seems Cairo is going to be OK.

The family has put up signs all over the park, warning the community of the potential danger.

“You’ve got a guy on the streets with deadly weapons who can’t control them,” Dan said.

“We just don’t want this to be someone’s one-year-old baby, or six months baby,” Maryorie added.

Dan went on to say he “can’t imagine if that was a person walking by. The damage it did to my dog, I can’t imagine it on anybody.”

They’ve left their phone number on their flyers, hoping it leads to finding the dog’s owner and end up holding them accountable.

“We go from pouring tears to being so mad and frustrated,” Mayorie said.

“I’d like this fella found,” Dan added.

The couple called the police and were deferred to animal control. They’re waiting to hear back.

So far, they’ve spent $13,000 on Cairo’s medical bills which keeps the animal at the vet through Wednesday. However, with a possible 6-month recovery and still surgery ahead, they say this is just the beginning.

The couple has a GoFundMe set up to help with medical bills.

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