

Kayla Goodfield, CP24.com





A Toronto family is heartbroken after an attack at a Leaside park claimed the life of their eight-week-old puppy.

Lana Novikova was walking through Serena Gundry Park on Wednesday at around 8 p.m. with her boyfriend Dennis Pal, her 12-year-old daughter and their two dogs.

The park requires all dogs to be on leash. Novikova said their five-year-old cockapoo Cooper was off-leash while playing catch, and their brand new puppy Cleo was being held by her daughter.

Novikova said a man and a woman were sitting with a white dog on the grass where they were playing.

“Cooper went to say hi to the dog and the dog just jumped and the guy started accusing us of having a dog off-leash and we told him the dog is friendly and he says hi to everybody and the white dog just attacked Cooper,” she said on Thursday afternoon.

“I tried to pull the white dog off of Cooper many times and he would go from different ends and then I hovered over Cooper to protect him with my body and to make sure he is okay … I was checking him for blood and when I looked what was going on, the white dog had the puppy already. The white dog was shaking the puppy like a rag doll.”

Novikova said the white dog was also not on a leash at the time.

According to Pal, the dog owners did not try to restrain the dog. He says they “stood there and watched.”

After trying mouth-to-mouth, Novikova said she realized the puppy’s neck was broken as blood was coming out of her nose.

“I realized protecting her doesn’t make any sense because now he could kill my second dog and then I saw my daughter bleeding and I was just sitting and screaming at the top of my lungs,” she said.

“The puppy was my baby. I have two daughters and a five-year-old dog and they are all my children so I am supposed to protect them. When I was crying I was asking for forgiveness that I didn’t protect her.”

During the incident, Novikova’s daughter was holding the puppy to her chest in an effort to protect her. The young girl ended up suffering a large gash on her left arm that required her to get five stiches.

“The puppy was in my hands because I always want to carry the puppy and she was biting my hair because she was really hyper and then the other dog just decided to attack me and the puppy,” the girl said. “All I remember is that I had the puppy and then I didn’t and she was on the ground and I was just trying to hold her but then the dog had gone away … I saw the puppy was on the ground and she looked like a chew toy.”

The young girl said she was in such shock that she didn’t even notice the gash on her arm.

“I didn’t realize what happened until I was covered in blood,” she said.

Novikova said her daughter will have to get a shot for rabies unless the dog is identified and tested within 24 hours of the incident.

Animal Services said they are aware of the incident and they are looking into it.

Novikova also said she contacted Toronto police.

Word got around regarding the incident within the Leaside community after the family shared a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Another dog owner who frequents parks in the area, Rozeena Khote, saw the online post and said she believes her one-year-old Samoyed was attacked by the same dog in Sunnybrook dog park on May 1.

“Samus was playing in the park and he had gone to sniff the other dogs and there was a couple on the bench and their dog was hiding underneath,” she said on Thursday afternoon. “My dog went to go sniff and make friends and the dog lunged out from under the bench and latched himself on to my dog’s back leg and wouldn’t let go.”

“My dog cried out and I watched in horror as my dog was being attacked by this dog. The owners didn’t do anything. My husband was able to get their dog off of our dog.”

Khote said more than one week later her dog is still limping and seems more anxious than before.

The incident was also reported Animal Services, Khote said.

Novikova and Khote said they hope those responsible for this dog will come forward and take responsibility for their actions as owners.