WESTERN BUREAU:
A 67-year-old retiree remained traumatised two months after she was viciously attacked by six mongrel dogs and, since then, her community has been left in fear of the animals that freely roam the streets.
The woman, who asked that her name not be used, suffered multiple bites to her legs and a broken left wrist during the attack on January 22 in the Rose Mount Gardens community of Montego Bay, St James, where she has lived since 2005.
“I was walking from my home when I was attacked by the six dogs. I had to fight them off with my handbag and, in the struggle, I fell. At that moment, I saw my life flash before me. The dogs kept coming at me, biting me repeatedly. Even now, I can still feel the sensation in my feet. It’s very traumatising,” she told The Gleaner on Wednesday.
She was eventually rescued by a passerby who intervened and chased the dogs away.
“My feet were bleeding from the bites, and I realised something was wrong with my left hand. I couldn’t move it. The elbow and wrist area were extremely painful to touch, so I knew something was seriously wrong,” she recounted.
The terrifying attack happened around 3 p.m.
According to the retiree, whose daughter has temporarily moved back home to care for her, it was a Good Samaritan who gave her first aid after she was attacked.
“A lady drove up in a car, helped me clean my wounds, and gave me a ride back home,” she recounted. “I then called my bishop, and he took me to the hospital, where I received treatment.”
The retiree wore a cast for six weeks, which was removed on Monday, but she is still unable to use her left hand.
She reported the incident to the Mount Salem Police the same day, and the lawman who took the report assured her he would visit. Two months later, she said she had yet to be visited but the policeman did call her the day she received treatment.
Meanwhile, this past Monday, a man walking in the community was attacked by the same dogs and had to seek medical attention. Another woman was also reportedly bitten. She allegedly visited the property the dogs live at and was told by a man that they belonged to his son. When she confronted the son, his response was described as indifferent.
Despite her faith in God, the retiree admitted that her fear of the dogs grows daily.
“The times we are living in are serious, and people’s hearts have grown cold, so I have placed my troubles in the hands of God,” she said. “But I am still terrified. If I go by my gate and see a dog, I panic. Just hearing them bark brings back the whole sensation in my feet. It’s traumatising.”
The retiree has become a prisoner in her own neighbourhood, unwilling to walk beyond her gate to catch a taxi, owing to the fact the dogs are never leashed or chained, and the homes they live have no gates.
Her story is not unique.
According to Yvonne Whyte-Powell, president of the Rose Mount Gardens Citizens Association, reports of dogs attacking residents started approximately November 2024, and have since escalated.
“This has been an ongoing issue in the community,” Whyte-Powell told The Sunday Gleaner.
The dogs have become increasingly vicious
“Since the beginning of the year, the dogs have become increasingly vicious. These dogs are from a specific area within the community, and their movements can often be traced back to a particular property. We have seen them perched on the walls of that premises, and when they attack, they run out from that yard.”
She said the community is aware of who owns the property where the dogs reside.
“Just this past Monday, an elderly gentleman was passing through the area when he was attacked and bitten by these dogs. A concerned resident went to the police station to report the matter. The injured man later went to the hospital before eventually making his way to the police station.”
Community members have repeatedly gone to the police station to file complaints about the dogs attacking people, she shared.
She described it as a terrible situation.
“Residents who usually take morning walks for exercise now feel unsafe. Some carry sticks and stones for protection. But the truth is, once dogs recognise vulnerability, they attack.”
Currently, residents have become hostages in their own community, because they are too terrified to step outside she noted.
“People are peeping through their windows, afraid to leave their homes to conduct their daily business. This situation has significantly disrupted life here.”
Other efforts have been made to find a solution, including consultation with Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA), but they have stated that they lack the resources to remove the dogs, Whyte-Powell argued.
The community was also directed to a private individual for assistance, but that person also seems unable to manage the situation.
“It is not for a lack of trying, it’s just sheer frustration at this point,” said Whyte-Powell.
Veterinarian Dr Owain Campbell said the dogs are probably vicious because of cross-breeding, which sometimes happens between a mongrel and, for example, a pit bull.
In other cases, sometimes the dogs are trained to be aggressive, yet those same homes have no fencing or gates, so they attack persons on the outside.
He put responsibility for the situation on the owners of the animals and cautioned them to seek help from the authorities to euthanise the dogs if they cannot maintain them.
Campbell said people should be able to walk freely, and the liability law stipulates that one’s dog should be on their premises secured.
Inspector Junior Beckford, sub-officer in charge of the Mt Salem Police Station, acknowledged receipt of reports from people who said they have been attacked, but noted that, on investigation, the police were unable to find any dogs in the area.
“I gather they are stray dogs, and seem to be all over the community. Nobody wants to own them.”
Beckford said it was a matter that the police were still investigating.
In the meantime, the residents are threatening to take the matter to court to get some type of redress and compensation.
‘These are not stray dogs’
“It is obvious that the dogs are either owned, being fed, or accommodated by the people at the house that they congregate at daily,” said one of the residents. “These are not stray dogs. When you pass there in the mornings or other time of the day the dogs are on the wall lying down and relaxing. They are at home. And it seems like whenever they attack anybody they are locked away, or sent away for a time.”
Approximately 4,000 people live in the community.
In 2020, Jamaica passed the Dogs (Liability for Attacks) Act, providing for criminal and civil liability for dog owners whose dogs attack, injure, or cause the death of persons, with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment.
“The occupier of any premises where a dog is kept, or permitted to live or remain, shall be presumed to be the owner of the dog. Where there is more than one occupier of the premises concerned, being premises let in separate apartments or lodgings, the occupier of that particular part of the premises at which the dog was kept, or permitted to live or remain at the time in question, shall be presumed to be the owner of the dog.”
The act goes further in saying that the owner of a dog has a duty to ensure that, at all times while the dog is in a public place:
(a) the dog is kept under control;
(b) the dog is fitted with a muzzle that prevents the dog from biting any individual.
According to the law, the owner of a dog “shall be liable in damages for injury done by the dog in any place, other than the premises (or part thereof) referred to in Section 3 where the dog is kept, or permitted to live or remain. Where a dog attacks an individual in any place other than the premises (or part thereof), where the dog is kept or permitted to live or remain, the owner of the dog commits an offence”.
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