A family living near Uplands Golf Course is sounding the alarm after a “traumatic” attack on the family dog last weekend.
After hosting a belated Thanksgiving dinner they let nine-year old black lab Riley out in the yard aroud 8:30 p.m..
“We walked around the corner and she was pinned by this great big buck,” said Norm Kelly. “She went into the backyard and basically got gouged by a deer … there was blood everywhere.”
The attack left the family pet with multiple puncture wounds that required hours of surgery. Tuesday she was on antibiotics and painkillers, apparently on the mend.
“I’m not pro-cull, I’m not anti-cull – I’m not sure. It’s a controversial issue, no matter what you do, with a cull or harvest,” Kelly emphasized.
“The community needs to know when they let their dogs out at night to go pee, which we’ve done for nine or 10 years, it’s not safe,” he added.
“There’s lots of scenarios, I’m worried about the safety side of it. I’m worried that somebody’s going to get hurt. These are not pretty animals, they’re big, strong.”
With a home on Salt Spring, where rules about dogs and deer are stringent, the family pet is well-trained to leave deer alone, he said.
“She doesn’t even know what to do with them, it’s not like she came out growling and barking,” Kelly said. “A deer will be a deer, a dog will be a dog, but not in my backyard.”
Oak Bay council recently recommitted to its goal of having a cull as part of the CRD deer management strategy. Other implementations have included signs in the Uplands area warning drivers of deer as well as upping fines for those caught feeding deer.