VANCOUVER -- A woman whose beloved therapy dog was disembowelled by a pit bull is livid that the city prosecutor has decided not to file bylaw charges against the animal’s owner.

Mia Johnson’s miniature pinscher Yuri died in November after he was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier, a member of one of the breeds commonly referred to as pit bulls.

Johnson was heartbroken last week when she learned that, after five months, the city bylaw prosecutor’s office has decided not to pursue any legal action, even though the Animal Services department had recommended charges for three bylaw violations.

“There’s something wrong here. This is not what should have happened,” she said, adding that no one from the prosecutor’s office interviewed her about the attack.

Johnson and her daughter were walking Yuri on leash near West 10th Avenue and Dunbar Street on Nov. 1 when they ran into another woman and her pit bull. The bigger dog was wearing what looked like a cloth muzzle and was straining at his leash, according to Johnson.

Somehow, the leash broke, the muzzle fell off and the pit bull’s jaws locked onto Yuri’s body, ripping him open. Johnson had to have him euthanized.

The pit bull’s owner had her dog put down as well, but Johnson was hoping for more action from authorities.

“The owner should have been charged. They should have been charged, big time. It sends a message,” she said.

A city communications staff member said no one was available to comment on the decision not to pursue charges. However, the prosecutor’s office came to the conclusion that Yuri’s death was the result of an unfortunate series of coincidences and that the bigger dog’s owner was taking reasonable care of the animal.

Johnson doesn’t buy that.

“What’s unfortunate here is not that the leash broke or that the muzzle came off, it’s that someone was walking a very dangerous animal,” she said.

Johnson has noticed an increase in the number of pit bulls in her neighbourhood, and she’s worried that attacks like this could become more frequent as animal-loving Vancouverites take in rescue dogs from places that have restricted pit bull ownership or from shelters with high euthanization rates.

“I think they’re just being good-hearted Samaritans, they’re trying to save animals. I’m really sympathetic,” she said.

But she worries that the average dog owner doesn’t have the ability to safely care for an animal that has the potential to be dangerous because of its strength and history of mistreatment.

blindsay@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/bethanylindsay

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