WHALLEY — An off leash pit bull viciously attacked a woman outside of a Surrey convenience store on Monday, a witness says.
“We heard the screaming from inside,” said Amarjit Sandhu, who has worked at the Mac’s at 92nd Avenue and Scott Road for more than 10 years.
The attack, which police say was unprovoked, happened just outside the store around 10:30 a.m.
Sandhu said the pit bull's owner came inside the Mac’s, and left his dog outside without a leash. Before he was done shopping, a woman’s screams pierced the air.
The man grabbed his dog and ran away, Sandhu said.
He said the woman was bitten on her lower right arm.
“It looked really bad, I seen the bone,” he said. “I tried to talk to her and told her to come inside the store and she said she was really traumatized. She told me her hand is broken.”
Sandhu said in more than a decade of working at the store, he’s never seen anything like this.
“It’s hard to look at,” he said.
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Surrey RCMP say the 65-year-old woman was taken to hospital with injuries to her forearm. Police say the woman was walking in the area next to the convenience store when she was attacked unprovoked, by an unleashed grey and white pit bull.
Police say they are working with the City of Surrey’s Animal Control office to find the dog and owner. He is described as a Caucasian male, late 30s to early 40s, with a heavier build, wearing a black tank top, black sweat pants and a black baseball hat.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-TIPS or go to solvecrime.ca.
Earlier this month in Surrey, four women were rushed to hospital after they tried to break up three pit bulls who were fighting. Media reports say the dogs were put down.
Meanwhile, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is seeking a ban on pit bulls and other dangerous breeds after a woman was killed after being mauled by an aggressive dog.
The ban could be instituted as early as September.
With a file from Tom Zytaruk