The owner of the dog that mauled a Montreal woman to death in June will not face criminal charges, the Crown prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday.
Christiane Vadnais, 55, was killed in her Pointe-aux-Trembles backyard in June when a neighbour’s dog attacked her. The attack kicked off the city’s debate over whether pit bulls should be banned in Montreal. The city’s controversial animal control bylaw is still being debated by the courts.
Montreal police had said the dog’s owner was expected to be charged with criminal negligence.
“After rigorously analyzing the evidence, it’s been decided there won’t be any charges laid,” Crown prosecutor’s office spokesperson Jean-Pascal Boucher said Wednesday morning.
Montreal police initially said the dog was a pit bull, but later backtracked. The city later said the dog, which was killed at the scene, was being tested to determine its breed but never confirmed the results. Paperwork shows that the beige-coloured dog was registered under the name “Lucifer” in Anjou and that its owner had identified it as a boxer. (An animal doesn’t need to be present when registered in Montreal.)
The owner’s lawyer, Audrey Amzallag, said in June that the dog had bitten people before. The owner was living with his parents in Pointe-aux-Trembles when the attack happened, and had left the dog there that day. Reached at their Pointe-aux-Trembles home in October, they refused to comment, saying the family was going through a “period of reflection.”
