Councillors vote to put down dogs that mauled five-year-old girl Owner of animals swears at victim, her family By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 11:57 AM CDT Wednesday, May. 22, 2019 Last Modified: 9:11 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 22, 2019 Updates

Fingers were pointed, insults were hurled and tears were shed during an emotional meeting in which a city committee voted to have two dogs euthanized for mauling a five-year-old girl last month.

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Fingers were pointed, insults were hurled and tears were shed during an emotional meeting in which a city committee voted to have two dogs euthanized for mauling a five-year-old girl last month.

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Fingers were pointed, insults were hurled and tears were shed during an emotional meeting in which a city committee voted to have two dogs euthanized for mauling a five-year-old girl last month.

Semiah Laquette, 5, was attacked by the dogs around noon on April 23 while she was walking home from school with her father in the North End.

The dogs’ owners — Victoria Heart, her son, Kingsley Heart, and his partner, Ashleigh Bowerman — pleaded with the committee members to spare the animals’ lives.

Semiah Laquette, 5, did not attend Wednesday's hearing; her mother says she's afraid to go outside. (Supplied)

“We’ll do anything to make sure our dogs live. Basically, you’re putting down my other kids. Before I had my baby, those dogs were my children,” Bowerman said through tears.

The dogs — which the owners claim are American bulldog-border collie crosses, but the city says show characterisitcs of American pit bull terrier, a prohibited breed in Winnipeg — had slipped out of their fenced backyard through an open gate and lunged at the girl, dragging the screaming child away.

Semiah’s father, Gregory Ducharme, said he had to punch one dog and put the other in a chokehold to force them to release his daughter.

The dogs’ owners admitted the animals were not neutered nor vaccinated, and had never been seen by a veterinarian. They said they didn’t have the money.

The attack left Semiah with large puncture wounds and lacerations to her head, face, ears, armpit and chest. One of her ears had to be surgically reattached and it’s expected she may require additional surgery later in life.

Lolanda Ducharme said the attack has changed her daughter.

Victoria Heart (above) repeatedly blamed Semiah and her family for provoking the attack, allegeding the girl and her siblings would taunt the dogs and steal their toys. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

“She has big scars to her face. She doesn’t like the way she looks because she has a really big scar right here, a really big scar to her ears, both ears. She doesn’t like wearing tank tops or shirts that don’t have sleeves because she has scars on her chest,” she said.

“She doesn’t really like herself anymore.”

When addressing the committee, Victoria Heart repeatedly blamed Semiah, saying they provoked the attack.

She claimed Semiah and her siblings would often taunt the dogs, which the Heart family had bought from an individual with a litter of 13 puppies. She said they would enter the yard to steal the animals’ toys because they didn’t have any of their own.

“This was an isolated, provoked incident. We’ve had run-ins with that family. On April 20, the children were caught taunting my dogs at the back of the fence. Then they were throwing rocks and marbles,” Heart said.

“We asked the parents, ‘Can you stop your kids from taunting our dogs?’ You know what they said? ‘Well, kids will be kids.’ And look where we are now.”

Lolanda Ducharme, seen with Semiah's sister, spoke in opposition to the appeal of an extremely dangerous dog designation. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Winnipeg Animal Services chief administration officer Leland Gordon said the decision to designate the dogs as “exceptionally dangerous” and order them euthanized was agonizing for his team.

He characterized the attack on Semiah as unprecedented in Winnipeg’s history, and said he couldn’t be certain the dogs wouldn’t attack again or get the training they need, if released back to the owners. The animals have been in city custody since the attack.

“It’s very hard for us to euthanize these dogs. It’s hard for us to see the owners of these dogs crying. It’s hard to see the victim and the pictures that I have right here. It’s hard to see the parents of the victim and listening to that,” Gordon said.

The protection, community services and parks committee — staffed by Couns. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), Ross Eadie (Mynarski) and Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) — voted unanimously to euthanize the dogs.

Outside the committee room, Heart spoke to city councillors as reporters watched. She repeatedly swore and hurled insults at Semiah and her family, including a racial epithet, and called the proceedings a “disgrace.”

It’s unclear when the dogs will be put down, but councillors promised Heart to inform her of the date in advance.