Stories of dogs attacking other dogs and people in Revelstoke pop up on social media sites and are shared among friends and neighbours, but the incidents are rarely reported to the city's bylaw compliance officers.

“We do know that the majority of these cases are not reported, we know this,” said Joe Marcoffio, the bylaw compliance supervisor for the city.

From what he and the other bylaw officers see on social media and hear anecdotally, Marcoffio guesses 98 per cent of incidents aren’t reported.

When people do report encounters with dogs that approach them aggressively or bite them or their dogs, Marcoffio says it’s often the second, third or fourth time it’s happened.

“Should that had been reported prior to the second, third or fourth time, that could have been the last incident at all.”

Gail Starling is a 65-year old who lives near Douglas Street with her two dogs, Chevy and Zorro. Zorro has been attacked by other dogs five times, most recently at the end of May on Douglas Street.

“I was taking the boys for a walk so they could go pottys,” she said.

They were just starting a new block when she noticed a man sitting on a bike, holding a dog on a leash. Starling turned around when she saw them.

“If at all possible I try to avoid other dogs,” she said.

But still, next thing she knew the dog had gotten away from its owner, and was on top of Zorro.

“I tried to kick at the attacking dog, and I was yelling, ‘No! No! No!’”

The owner came running up, apologized, and left before Startling could even think to ask for this name and number.

“I was in shock, I’ve got one dog in each arm, I’m 65-years-old and I’m trying to deal with a dog attacking my dog, yes it was horrible.”

Zorro was hobbling on three legs, one of his rear knees injured. After a week Starling took him to the vet. They did x-rays, urine samples and bloodwork, and found Zorro needs what’s called a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy on one of his cruciate ligaments.

The surgery is on July 5 at the Shuswap Veterinary Clinic in Salmon Arm. It will cost Starling, who’s on a fixed income, $4100.

Starling posted to social media about the dog attack, and about the cost of the surgery. A friend of hers set up a fundraiser to help with the cost.

Starling didn’t report the attack to bylaw, saying that one time Zorro was attacked by a dog that lives in her building. She called the RCMP, but doesn’t think they did anything.

“I’ve seen the dog several times still running around off-leash,” Starling said, “so it seems kind of pointless to bother the RCMP or bylaws officers because nothing changes.”

Cpl. Phil Pauzé with the Revelstoke RCMP said that animal enforcement falls under city jurisdiction, and when the RCMP receive reports about dog attacks, they pass them along.

Marcoffio is skeptical that the RCMP pass along every report.

“But there are a lot of times where the RCMP will kind of turn over that file and pass it on to us,” he said.

Under the province of British Columbia’s community charter, the city of Revelstoke has the authority to, “regulate, prohibit and impose requirements in relation to animals.”

The city created an animal control bylaw to do that.

Under this bylaw it says: “No Owner shall allow his or her Dog to harass, chase, or approach a Person or domestic animal in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack,” and “No Owner shall allow his or her Dog to bite, inflict any injury on, or otherwise attack, a Person or domestic animal.”

Reports of aggressive dog incidents are one of the most serious calls bylaw receives, Marcoffio said.

“Everything gets dropped for a serious dog incident,” he said, “and we keep on top of that until we can take it as far as we can.”

The information bylaw needs to create a file on a dog attack includes the date, time and location of the incident, and a description of the attacking dog and owner.

Exchanging names and numbers is a good idea, Marcoffio said.

If someone reports an incident to the city, they’ll be interviewed by a bylaw compliance officer, will have to write a statement, and may need to testify in court down the road.

As for the people whose dogs do the attacking, Marcoffio suggest they take responsibility.

“It’s better for you, it’s better for your dog,” he said.

Adding, “should we catch up to you later, and you’re not as cooperative as you could have been, that could lead to more penalties down the road.”

Starling echoes that.

“It costs a lot of money when a dog is injured for vet bills, and there’s the possibility of the human being hurt also, so please just keep your dogs on a leash.”

 Click below to listen to the full audio report that aired on StokeFM on June 24, 2022.