Small dog nearly killed in attack, vet bill upwards of $3,300

PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) — An 8-pound Yorkshire-chihuahua had to undergo three hours of surgery and nearly died after he was attacked by a much larger dog in a Port Moody apartment complex on Friday.

Around 4:30 in the afternoon Cara Mueller was taking her dog, Remy, outside when they encountered another dog. She says Remy was already scared of the dog and froze. Mueller knew she needed to go out another door, but the larger dog broke free from its owner and charged at them.

“He picked my dog up in his jaws and was thrashing his head around,” she explains. “It was like my dog was a rag doll.”

Mueller screamed for the owner to help before she had to spring into action.

“I was trying to pry his jaws open because he wouldn’t let go. He still had my dog in his jaws and was thrashing him around. So I stuck my right hand into his mouth trying to choke him,” she says, adding she was injured trying to save her dog.

Her pointer and middle fingers were broken and lacerated badly enough she has to see a specialist. She’s off work now and isn’t able to use her right hand properly.

“My hand was gushing blood everywhere. There was blood all over the grass, all over me, all over the lobby,” she says. “But I was more worried about my dog than myself.”

Remy ended up in emergency surgery for three hours requiring dozens of stitches with bills piling up to more than $3,300.

“He has stitches all over his back and stomach. He has a big bulge coming out of the side of his stomach. He is very badly injured,” Mueller says.

Remy hasn’t been eating or drinking since the incident, and needs to go back to the emergency clinic for care for fluids and more pain medication and antibiotics.

Mueller set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay her bills as she says the owner of the aggressive dog won’t respond to her calls or texts.