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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
The two dogs who were the main aggressors during an attack in Fort Liard have been killed.

The dogs attacked a woman in the hamlet on Nov. 10. She was walking on the road that runs along the side of the airport farthest from the community. The two dogs, as well as a number of other dogs, were walking with their owner and her female relative. The woman, a nurse at the Fort Liard Health Centre, suffered injuries that were described as extensive, by Cpl. Monica Schimanke of the Fort Liard RCMP detachment.

The two dogs were killed during the weekend of Nov. 24-25 after a quarantine period to check for signs of rabies was over. The owner was co-operative in that sense, Schimanke said.

Charges aren't expected to be laid in relation to the incident, said Schimanke.

Fort Liard Mayor Morris McLeod said he wasn't surprised by the attack. For a number of years there have been a lot of loose dogs in the community, he said.

"It was just a matter of time until this happened," said McLeod.

The hamlet's dog bylaw is outdated and can't be enforced and the hamlet doesn't have a bylaw officer, he said. Although the issue of the outdated bylaw had been brought up at hamlet council meetings in the past, nothing was ever done, McLeod said.

In light of the attack, creating a new dog bylaw will have a new sense of urgency, he said. The topic was on the agenda for the Nov. 29 council meeting, but the meeting had to be cancelled because not enough councillors showed up. The next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 6.

"We don't want that to happen again," McLeod said about the attack.

Even when the hamlet passes a new bylaw, there is no bylaw officer to enforce it. McLeod said the RCMP can possibly assist in that.

The RCMP won't be the main enforcing party for a bylaw, said Schimanke, but having a bylaw in place will provide enforceability options if another incident occurs.

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