The south Edmonton home where an 11-year-old boy was attacked and killed by two large dogs on Monday had been visited twice previously this year by Animal Control peace officers investigating other complaints of dog attacks.
“In 2024, Animal Control peace officers responded to two attack complaints isolated to inside the private residence,” a City of Edmonton spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“One complaint is still under investigation while the other was concluded without charges.”
In the past year, animal control officers also responded to the same address for “multiple barking complaints which resulted in warnings and one ticket,” the statement said.
Police are investigating the boy’s death. He was from Osoyoos, British Columbia.
Officers responded to a report of a dog attack at a home in the area of 82nd Street and 11th Avenue S.W. around 8 p.m. Monday, the Edmonton Police Service said in a news release.
Police found a severely injured boy who “had been attacked by two very large dogs,” the news release said. The boy had been attacked inside the home, said police spokesperson Cheryl Voordenhout.
Edmonton police are investigating the death of an 11-year-old boy who died after he was attacked by two dogs.
Police attempted life-saving measures until emergency medical services arrived.
The child was declared dead on scene. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday.
The dogs were seized by Animal Control peace officers and are currently at the Animal Care and Control Centre.
Police said the child was visiting a home in the Summerside neighbourhood and that the dogs belong to a person who lives at the home.
The boy is being remembered by his classmates at Osoyoos Elementary School in Osoyoos, B.C., said Marcus Toneatto, superintendent of schools with School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen). The school serves about 360 students from kindergarten to Grade 7.
“We just found about this horrible incident,” Toneatto said in an interview Wednesday. “The family informed the school so we had enough time to pull our critical incident team together and we put a support plan in place.”
He said students were informed of the tragedy on Wednesday morning by their teachers.
“Any time young people in that age range … loses a peer, there is going to be a whole process in dealing with and accepting that loss. With the nature of this incident, I think that adds a level of complexity to it.”
The privacy of the boy’s family and his classmates is critical, Toneatto said.
“It’s just gut wrenching. It really is.”
Edmonton city council boosted funding for addressing animal-related issues and complaints in April 2023.
“Since then, the city has taken significant steps to address and investigate dog attacks and restricted dogs,” the city said in its statement.
“A dedicated Animal Licensing Team comprising five members was formed which now focuses on public education regarding the importance of licensing, restricted dog licensing and enforcing compliance with licensing regulations.
“A key aspect of their work involves monitoring and following up on restricted and dangerous dogs (dogs with dog attack records), categorizing them separately and implementing measures to prevent future incidents.”
Cheyenne Pozzolo lives just a few houses away and said she never saw the dogs, though she could occasionally hear them.
“The dogs didn’t bark excessively or anything like that and sometimes it would go weeks, you wouldn’t even hear from these dogs,” she said.
“It was mostly summer time and it just sounded like they were playing with each other and then maybe one got a little angry and kind of snapped at each other. But even if they were fighting each other, the owners seemed to break it up pretty quickly.”
She said it’s a tragedy and a shock for the neighbourhood.
“My son walks to school and from school. So that’s concerning that, you know? Not even just their dog, but any, any animal attack could happen now. That’s in my mind. But being three houses down, that’s pretty alarming.”