WARNING: Details in this story are disturbing. Discretion is advised.
On Mother’s Day, David Peter was going about his normal routine, getting in his steps and some exercise on a daily walk.
He started on his usual route up Hemlock Valley Road on Sasquatch Mountain Resort in Agassiz, B.C.
Then, he came across a grey truck parked on the route.
“I only noticed it because I heard a man and a lady yelling and then soon after that, I seen a black dog and then shortly after that a brown dog,” Peter, a member of the Sts’ailes First Nation, told Global News.
“They come down a hill and they were barking at me.”
Peter said the dogs were off-leash.
He said the black dog started biting his left forearm and then the brown dog attacked his right forearm.
“So I was busy using both my arms, trying to protect myself,” he said. “And my hoodie was loose and that seemed to kind of protect me a bit, because it was getting the hoodie more on this side than it was right onto my arm.”
Peter said that is when the black dog went for his face and as the dog clamped down, he fell to the ground.
“I was laying in a ditch for, it seemed to be, at least five minutes, that felt like that dog was clamping on to me,” he said.
Peter said it happened so fast.
He said the two people at the truck did follow behind the dogs and were yelling something, but he couldn’t hear what.
“But when I was laying there on the ground, and the dog was locked jaw onto my bicep here, the lady with blondish-white hair, she said, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and then I told her, ‘Why don’t you have your guys’ dogs on a leash?” Peter added.
As the people were leading the dogs away, Peter called 911 and he thought they would come back to check on him.
They didn’t.
“They turned around and they went down and they drove past me and didn’t bother to stop to check on me,” he said.
“And as the truck drove by, I heard the lady say it one more time, that she said, ‘I am so sorry’, but the man didn’t say a word.”
Peter said he felt really nauseous, a pressure in his head, a loud ringing in his ears and everything was spinning.
“I managed to take my hoodie off and I used that to put pressure, but I was bleeding in more than one spot, so I took the place where it was bleeding the most — on my bicep — and when I took my sweater off, I noticed a lot of chunks of my meat were falling out,” Peter said.
He added he became quite emotional when he was talking to the 911 dispatcher.
“I was questioning why, why are they just leaving me laying here in a ditch and I can’t do anything for myself.
“They’re just leaving there without even seeing if I was going to be OK or not.”
Peter added he didn’t even know how serious his injuries were until he took his hoodie off and was covered in blood.
“I was hollering, and I was crying when the dog was clamped onto me,” he said.
“It felt like he was locked right in, like vice grips. I knew there was no way for me to break loose.”
Peter said an ambulance arrived in about 30 minutes while he lay on the ground.
He had to have more than 50 stitches.
“(My sister) said when I got stitched up, she said the doctor was snipping away a lot of the meat that was coming out of my arm, because when I took my hoodie off, I seen a lot of my meat,” Peter said.
“Meat all over on the ground.”
Peter said the experience left him traumatized and emotional. Now, he is scared to walk up Hemlock Valley Road, which was his favourite place.
“I’m afraid to be able to have that freedom just to do my daily exercise,” he said.
Agassiz RCMP confirmed it is investigating.
“While such occurrences are uncommon, they serve as a critical reminder of the responsibility that comes with pet ownership,” Sgt. Andy Lot, spokesperson for the Agassiz RCMP told Global News.
Timothy Felix, a councillor for the Sts’ailes First Nation, said when they heard the two dog owners had left Peter there, not knowing what kind of injuries he had, they were disheartened to know the pet owners are avoiding taking responsibility.
“I’d hope they come forward and be accountable for their actions,” Felix said.
“I think any sane person would be consumed with guilt, and it’s just going to eat away at them.
“He could have died. So I’m hoping they’re going to come forward and be countable and make sure this doesn’t happen to nobody else.”
Peter agreed, saying what happened wasn’t right and he wants the dog owners to know they could have left him there to die.