The Langley owners of a dog that was mauled to death in a park on Vancouver's Second Beach have launched an online effort to find the owner of the other dog.
AJ Tay and wife Andrea Jagdeo were near the beach with their two-year-old poodle-maltese cross Sky on Aug. 5 when another, larger dog lunged.
Tay was looking away, on a Zoom call at that moment. According to his wife and children, the owner of the larger dog took it off leash for some reason, and the larger dog immediately pounced.
Sky did not survive the attack.
"Our beloved Sky passed away after being mauled by an off-leash pit bull at Second Beach this evening at around 5:30 p.m.," Tay wrote on Facebook.
"The owner ran with her dog and she was being chased by the crowd but we were on our way to the animal hospital and was never able to identify her."
Sky would have been turning three this year, Tay said.
He asked anyone who witnessed the incident, or had video of it, to come forward. He has created the Justice For Sky page on Facebook, which quickly drew a flurry of posts and suggestions.
Since then, Tay has posted several screenshots from a video that shows a woman rapidly leaving the scene, with a large tan-coloured dog. The woman has brown hair and is wearing a white T-shirt and salmon-coloured pants.
He also asked people to be careful when posting info and suggestions about possible owners of the dog that attacked Sky. He and his family have been overwhelmed with information and misinformation since going public about the incident, he said.
"No one needs to be made a suspect without any proof. Let's keep it professional and respect one another," Tay wrote.
According to the Vancouver Police Department's Const. Tania Visintin, the VPD responded to a report of a dog being attacked by another dog at Second Beach that afternoon.
"Animal Services are investigating as the lead and will contact us if they need assistance as they move forward," Visintin said. "Anyone with information is asked to call Animal Services."
Vancouver Animal Services can be reached at 604-873-7000, or by email at animal.services@vancouver.ca.
