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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Greeter scarred after dog bites off tip of nose

By: Claire Brownell

Posted: 04/19/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

OTTAWA -- A greeter at a Home Depot store in Ottawa will have scars for the rest of her life after a customer's Shih Tzu dog bit off the tip of her nose last week.

"It isn't that nice to see. My little girl goes, 'Mama, I don't like you to have a boo-boo on your nose," Anne Riel said. "It basically will never look like it did before."

Riel, a 39-year-old mother of two, said she was working near the doors at the Home Depot in the Ottawa community of Gloucester on Friday when a woman entered the store with a medium-sized Shih Tzu in her shopping cart.

Riel greeted the woman and bent down to pat the dog, she said.

With no warning, the dog jumped out of the cart and bit off the tip of her nose, she said.

"No sooner did I touch this dog's head and literally bend slightly, he bit my nose almost off."

With blood gushing from her face, Riel said she started screaming for someone to call an ambulance. Other staff members came to her aid and a manager escorted the dog owner out of the store, she said.

Paramedics, police and City of Ottawa bylaw officers came on scene and made reports, Riel said. She said the dog owner showed little interest in her injuries.

"The lady didn't say sorry, didn't come see me. She was basically ready to leave," Riel said.

At the hospital, Riel said doctors stitched her skin together over the tip of her nose and reattached her left nostril to her face.

They told her scars from tooth punctures on the right side of her nose will be visible for the rest of her life, she said.

Riel said she hopes to go back to work Monday, but she's worried about the off-putting sight of the bandages on her face. Home Depot has signs saying no dogs are allowed in the store, Riel said. She said she wasn't sure if the dog was on a leash, but said if it was it wasn't being held by its owner.

Riel said the dog should be put down. "Can you imagine if it was a child? The child would have no face right now."

On Sunday, police referred calls the city bylaw department. A city spokesman said the case is under investigation and added the animal's owner could be charged under the city's animal care and control bylaw.

-- Postmedia News

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 19, 2011 A9

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