A young girl is lucky to be alive after being attacked by ten dogs in Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.
The incident happened on Aug. 15 as Heavenly Monias, 9, was out for a walk with her family’s dog who was in heat.
“Those dogs just came running up to me and then started attacking me,” she told APTN News. “Then I started crying because I was scared if they were going to kill or like give me a lot of bites.”
Monias’ cheek was cut from ear to mouth, puncture wounds line one arm and she has scratch marks throughout her body.
Community members Keith Icefisher as well as Kenneth Cameron stepped in and saved her from the dogs. Donna Muskego, Alexandra Flett, and Samantha Hart helped the girl while they waited for EMS.
Norway House doesn’t have a fully equipped medical centre so Monias was medivaced to Winnipeg, nearly 500 km to the south for treatment.
She’s now ready to go home – but that poses another challenge.
“I’m just scared to go back to Norway House because of those dogs,” she said. “Like, I’m scared to go on walks.”
Her grandmother, Lorraine Trout, is still upset with what happened. She wasn’t at the scene of the attack, but remembers when she saw her daughter at the nursing station.
“One of the nurses stopped me and said ‘prepare what you’re going to see’ and I said ‘okay,’” she said. “And when I seen her, the way she looked… I just started crying, and I was pissed off at the same time. And I’m still pissed off.”
Trout said dog attacks are a growing issue in her community. She said at this point, they still don’t know who owns the dogs that attacked her granddaughter.
Norway House coun. Deon Clarke said the community has a band council resolution in place that compels authorities to kill any dogs that threaten others.
He said dog owners will also be asked to register their pets once a new by-law that is in the works is implemented.
“We’re also hiring our own animal control officer so that’s one person controlling the dogs,” he said. “We’re also ordering another building that will house and take care of these animals that are captured and held in our kennels.”
In the short term, Trout hopes something will be done with the dogs to give her granddaughter comfort when she comes home.
“[The dogs] are attacking people – not just her, though she got the worst. Even my son got bit the night we got medivaced out but his wasn’t that bad,” said Trout. “I hope they can at least take them away, catch them, and remove them from Norway house.”
