EDITOR,

On Wednesday, July 18 at 12:30 p.m., I went to The Naked Lunch by Save-On-Foods with my two daughters, who are 2½ and four years old. We were walking to the restaurant along the strip mall section of the plaza and used the crosswalk to enter their facility. After we started to cross the walkway by the side of the building, my daughter ran ahead and right past a mid-sized blackish/grey dog who was tied up to the patio fence. As she passed the dog, it leapt at her and nipped her in the back of her leg. The bite didn’t break the skin or tear though the clothes, but it did cause a fairly significant bruise. After calming my children down and making sure they were OK, we went into the restaurant for lunch, where the staff was helpful by getting us some ice for her injury.  No one in the restaurant came forward to take ownership of the dog or event. After sitting there for a few minutes a middle-aged man got up from one of the tables, left the restaurant, got his dog and continued on his way. It might be possible that he didn’t see the incident but I don’t think that is the case. My daughters wanted to write a letter to the paper in hopes that the owner of the dog may see it and hopefully change his behaviour in the future. We want to prevent this from happening to another child.  This is her letter:

“Your dog bit me and I didn’t like it. It really scared me. I was going to Naked Lunch to have some lunch and the dog bit me when I ran past it. Mom thinks I startled the dog but it wasn’t my fault and I didn’t go up to the dog. It just snapped at me. Now I have a bruise on my bum the size of my hand. It was really bad at first but now it doesn’t hurt as much. I don’t want to get the dog in trouble because I love dogs. I have a dog and she sometimes steals my food and scratches me. It would have been nice if you had said sorry or seen if I was OK. Next time, please be more careful and watch your dog.

— Vanessa (4¾  years old)”

Karina Steinberg

Garibaldi Highlands