A pit bull attack at a home on Quigley Drive on Jan. 12 has landed a seven-year-old boy in a Calgary hospital.
Tyler Benjamin was visiting with his older sister at her residence when he was attacked by a dog owned by the sister’s boyfriend. The dog grabbed the young boy by the right side of his face, tearing off his cheek.
Tyler was immediately taken by ambulance to the Alberta Children’s Hospital, where he underwent cosmetic surgery to restructure the damaged cheek. Surgery lasted three-and-a-half hours. Both the cheek and the skin were saved, and able to be re-attached.
“My son told me the dog was sitting on a rug, so he sat down beside it. Next thing, the dog was on top of him,” said Tyler’s father, Ron LeClaire.
LeClaire said on Jan. 14 there doesn’t appear to be any nerve or muscle damage, and the boy seemed to be recovering well.
Tyler, a Glenbow Elementary School student (where he’s known as Tyler LeClaire), was visiting his sister’s home following hockey practice while his father ran errands. LeClaire said he received a frantic phone call and arrived at the home to a “devastating sight.”
Emergency Medical Services arrived at the home at about the same time.
Tyler had played with the dog only days before the attack, LeClaire said. While the dog had never hurt the boy, LeClaire said the canine had snapped at him (LeClaire) in the past.
“You try not to blame yourself,” he said.
Cochrane RCMP arrived at the home just as the EMS ambulance left for Calgary. They seized the dog, which is now being held by the City of Calgary Animal Services.
The Town of Cochrane does not have the facilities to house dogs that are under investigation.
“Right now, I’m only focused on my son, but I’m hoping they had to put the dog down,” said LeClaire.
The incident is still under investigation, said Laurie Drukier, a communications advisor for the Town of Cochrane.
The incident comes on the heels of a series of pit bull attacks in the Calgary area. On Dec. 31, a trio of pit bulls left one dog dead and another injured following a dogfight in an off-leash dog park.
On the evening of Jan. 2, a man and woman were attacked by two unattended pit bulls in the city’s northeast. The woman was bitten on the leg. The next day, a pit bull jumped a fence into the backyard of a Calgary home. Two other dogs were in the yard at the time and two teenager suffered minor bites during the incident.
These incidences have sparked a discussion on whether the controversial dog breed should be banned from Calgary.
