Calgary police won’t lay charges in fatal dog attack

Calgary police say criminal charges won’t be laid in connection to a dog attack earlier this year which left an elderly woman dead.

Officers responded to reports of a woman being attacked by three dogs in the northwest community of Capitol Hill on June 5.

Police say 86-year-old Betty Ann Williams was gardening in an alleyway next to her home at around 2 p.m. when she was attacked by the dogs that appeared to have escaped from a neighbour’s property.

EMS transported the victim to hospital in life-threatening condition, but she died a short time later.

Police say there weren’t any criminal elements to support pressing charges for “criminal negligence causing death,” against the owners of the dogs.

“As tragic as this incident is for those who knew the victim, as well as the community, laying criminal charges require that elements specified within the Criminal Code of Canada have been met,” said S Sgt. Travis Baker of the Calgary Police Service General Investigations Unit.

READ MORE: Elderly woman dead after dog attack in northwest Calgary

Baker says the owners took “reasonable precautions,” to secure the dogs on their property with a locked gate. In addition, he says there is “no way to prove the owners had knowledge the dogs would escape,” as the investigation suggests there was no prior history of the dogs escaping.

The S/Sgt. says “There was no sign of malicious intent.”

“Our investigators also spoke to several witnesses in the neighbourhood, and their interactions with the dogs have been positive. There has been no history of any of the three dogs attacking a person,” Baker said.

“In this incident, the Crown Prosecutor’s office agreed with our assessment that the elements in this case were not met, and therefore, we are unable to lay criminal charges.”

City pet ownership charges, and fraud investigation

The owners were jointly facing bylaw charges related to the attack back in July of this year.

Police say the owners face 12 counts under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw. These include an animal attack on a person causing severe injury, an animal attack to a person, and an animal bite to a person.

One of the dogs was surrendered to the city in July, where a judge ordered the dog to be euthanized.

Officers are also looking into allegations of fraud, where they say a GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds to cover funeral expenses for the victim.

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On June 8, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said the 86-year-old waited 30 minutes for an ambulance and that the 9-1-1 call was initially treated as non-life-threatening.

The results of the investigation will be shared publicly when they are completed later this year by the Health Quality Council of Alberta.

Investigators are asking anyone with information about this investigation to call police at 403-266-1234 or leave a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

-With files from Joey Chini and Hana Mae Nasar