Pit bulls attack two small dogs in Cole Harbour

Two loose pit bulls attacked a woman's dogs in a quiet Cole Harbour neighbourhood and animal control has no idea who they belong to.

Raechelle Speight was walking her two small dogs (a poodle and a shih tzu) near her house on Wildwood Boulevard on April 16. At about 1:30 p.m. she walked up Roslyn Drive, where she met up with two big tan-colored pit bulls that she said came out of nowhere.

"They were jumping, barking and biting at my dogs and me. My dogs were making painful squealing noises; I had never heard them make such noises. The pit bulls wouldn't stop, it was like a competition between them, and they were edging each other on. I had my shih tzu on a harness and him being the lighter dog, I was able to lift him off the ground into my arms. The dogs then continued to attack the poodle and jump on me trying to grab the shih tzu," said Speight.

Panicked, she started banging on doors. "I was screaming at the top of my lungs for help."

Gene Childs, who was outside working on a nearby house, ran over to help her.

"They were in what I'd call a feeding frenzy," said Childs. "I managed to get the one dog that she didn't have in her arms away from them; the one that was being bitten and rolled around on the pavement. Then, I managed to get her behind me, with the two little dogs in her arms. In the meantime, those two dogs were going nuts around us trying to get at the two little dogs."

When he got back to the driveway he picked up a two-by-four and held it out, threatening the dogs with it, but he said they kept running around growling and jumping until he was able to get Speight and her dogs into his truck.

Childs, who is from Truro and had been working on his brother's Cole Harbour home for the day, said the two dogs than ran into his brother's fenced back yard.

"Then they saw two other dogs in a neighbouring yard and they went nuts trying to get at them through the fence," said Childs.

He said he managed to get the dogs out of the yard using the piece of lumber.

"I would have left them there if they weren't going crazy over those other dogs," he said.

Childs said until that time there was no one else on the street, but when he followed the dogs out of the yard, he noticed a woman holding two leashes standing at the end of the street near a walkway.

"The dogs ran up toward her and she leashed them and went back up the walkway. I'm not sure how much she saw ... but she made no attempt to walk up the street."

Childs drove Speight and her dogs home.

"I am very grateful for his help," she said.

Speight said she and her dogs are fine, just shaken up.

"Our hearts were pounding pretty hard," said Speight. "My little poodle was limping pretty badly and he had a bit of blood coming from somewhere, but we weren't able to find where. We did bring him to the vet; they said he should be fine in a few days."

She said the thing that bothered her most was that Roslyn Drive is located next to Joseph Giles Elementary School.

"The pit bulls could have just as easily run up there at recess time and attacked a child. These dogs should not have been off leash, they are a danger to this neighborhood. I am now too scared to walk my dogs on my own near my own home. If it weren't for the man across the street, I believe my poodle would be dead and worse, they would have moved on to me afterward. I want them off the streets."

Childs said he spoke with another neighbour who said they had seen the dogs roaming loose before in the area.

He described the dogs as light tan and white.

Animal Control is investigating the incident.

"We've hit a road block," said Andrea MacDonald, manager of animal services for HRM. "That's the problem."

MacDonald said they did a search of their dog license data base to see if anyone on the streets nearby had those types of dogs registered, but found nothing.

"So, we have a description of the woman, and the dogs, but we cannot locate her," said MacDonald.

She said the case will remain open and encourages anyone with information to call 490-4000.

lmckay@hfxnews.ca