The community has rallied around an elderly woman after she and her dog were attacked by pit bulls last month.
The Leader reported last week that 91-year-old Merle Polischuk was walking her 12-year-old sheltie Heidi near her home at 92 Avenue and 121 Street on Sunday, May 27.
A young man was walking two pit bulls across the street from her when they got loose and attacked Heidi.
Trying to intervene, Polischuk was knocked down twice and sustained scrapes to her knees and bruises to her head, as well as a severe bite to her hand.
Meanwhile, the two terriers each had one end of Heidi and were pulling in opposite directions.
The man who was walking the pit bulls eventually got control of the dogs and neighbours called medical crews and city animal control.
After being patched up at the hospital, Polischuk was treated to a $1,400 vet bill.
Neighbours quickly started up a collection. They wouldn’t say how much was raised, only that it isn’t enough to cover the medical costs.
Many people called The Leader offering help, one offering money, and Pampered Pets offered Heidi a free dog grooming session.
Polischuk was taken aback by the reaction.
“It was very nice of everybody, that’s for sure,” Polischuk said. “It’s like a big family in here (in her strata complex). There’s a lot to be thankful for.”
A City of Surrey animal control officer visited Polischuk last Wednesday and said the city couldn’t seize the dogs because they were in the care and control of their owner.
He told her he would be making recommendations to his boss on how to proceed, but wouldn’t tell Polischuk what those recommendations would be.
The city’s animal control officer did not return Leader phone calls by press time Wednesday.
Polischuk’s neighbour, Nancy Brown, is concerned that two dogs responsible for such a violent attack are still roaming the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, Polischuk remains confined to her own apartment complex, as she says she fears the animals will attack again and she won’t venture outside the gated community.
A Freedom of Information request by the Leader indicates that in the first nine months of last year, Surrey bylaw officers wrote 28 $200-tickets for dogs at large, the second-highest number of fines during that period.