Saskatoon woman looking for 'justice' after dog attack leaves Pomeranian dead

Alexander Quon · CBC News

· Posted: May 21, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Saskatoon's Haultain neighbourhood is connected borderline aft a canine onslaught past week near a pistillate injured and her beloved Pomeranian dead.

"I've been precise traumatized and I'm highly affectional and mislaid without Ryder. He meant the satellite to maine and helium was similar a kid to me," Susan O'Donnell said successful a telephone interrogation connected Tuesday.

On Thursday, the pair were connected their nightly walk.

As O'Donnell and her companion of 9 years neared the intersection of Sixth Street East and Dufferin Avenue, O'Donnell saw a trio of ample pitbulls running toward her. She said a radical of men was down the dogs.

"My lone instinct was to prime him up and effort and support him. I was incapable to bash that," O'Donnell said. 

O'Donnell said the 3 pitbulls jumped on her, knocking her to the crushed and biting her hand before turning to Ryder.

O'Donnell described the pitbulls arsenic a "pack of hyenas." The sounds of the onslaught drew the attraction of neighbours.

Nikita Rathwell said she went to her room model aft proceeding a commotion outside.

"There's a pistillate screaming, 'They're sidesplitting my dog, they're sidesplitting my dog,'" Rathwell said.

Neighbours were speedy to tally extracurricular and abstracted the 3 pitbulls from the overmuch smaller dog.

Carol Klapwijk, different neighbour, brought a broad extracurricular to cover Ryder.

Klapwijk said she was disquieted for O'Donnell, who looked highly stressed.

"There's thing much we could bash [for the dog]. I had been a vet tech successful erstwhile beingness of enactment and determination was thing I knew we could bash but comfortableness him and I could comfortableness her," she said.

Eventually O'Donnell contacted her roommate, who helped bring Ryder to a vet clinic.

The Pomeranian's injuries were judged to beryllium excessively severe. O'Donnell made the determination to euthanize her dog, an acquisition she described arsenic the astir traumatic thing she's ever had to bash oregon witness.

'Happened before'

Rathwell said the onslaught was not a astonishment for neighbours who unrecorded successful the area, due to the fact that the 3 dogs person gotten retired before.

"It's happened really aggregate times. And you know, the owners person been warned. The landlord had been warned," Rathwell said.

Rathwell described incidents wherever the dogs person antecedently charged astatine neighbours and children.

Other radical successful the neighbourhood person antecedently filed complaints with the Saskatoon Animal Control Agency.

Nothing came of those complaints, Rathwell said.

"It seems similar there's a batch of roadblocks. The process takes a agelong clip and it could beryllium better," she added.

Vic Bairos, the proprietor of the pitbulls, claimed to inactive person the 3 dogs. He told CBC the Saskatoon Animal Control Agency told him the animals will need to beryllium euthanized.

The Saskatoon Animal Control Agency directed each requests for remark to the City of Saskatoon.

In a statement, the metropolis said it would beryllium incapable to "provide further details arsenic the incidental remains nether investigation."

Klapwijk said the process needs to change.

"I deliberation we request to alteration the instrumentality for unsafe dogs and you request to fto carnal power instrumentality complaint and springiness them capable powerfulness to spell and drawback them close away," Klapwijk said.

'Justice for Ryder'

O'Donnell said she volition beryllium submitting a witnesser connection to the Saskatoon Animal Control Agency. Another neighbour has submitted a graphic video of the incidental to the bureau arsenic well.

O'Donnell said her neighbours person helped her mourn by providing her with flowers and cards. Others person fixed her hugs and messages of support.

"My extremity is to question justness for Ryder and the information of the neighborhood," O'Donnell said.

She said that means putting the dogs liable for the onslaught down.

While O'Donnell waits for the probe to conclude, she said she volition effort to retrieve Ryder arsenic the "sweetest boy."

"He ne'er ever spot anybody oregon anything. He loved each animals, adjacent cats, and children," O'Donnell said.