Alberta's Minister of Health Jason Copping is requesting to see results of Alberta Health Services' review of the lengthy EMS response time arriving at the fatal mauling of an elderly Calgary women. .AHS announced it was reviewing the 30 minute delay in EMS responding to the dog attack less than 4 km from the Foothills Hospital on Sunday. ."The Minister shares Calgarians’ concern that 30 minutes passed from the initial 9-1-1 call, to when an ambulance arrived on the scene," said Copping's press secretary Steve Buick. ."But it’s also important to get the facts clear, starting with the information from the scene that came in with the initial call to 9-1-1. We need to know what information EMS had and when, before we can judge how the call was handled.".Buick said the minister will share all the information publicly as soon as possible. ."Regardless of the details of this particular call, we know EMS is under strain and we’re adding resources as fast as we can," said Buick. ."Four new fully staffed ambulances will be on the street in Calgary by the end of June, plus a new non-emergency transport vehicle to free up ambulances for 911 calls; and five more ambulances by the end of September."."Calgarians need to be safe in their neighbourhoods and they need to know an ambulance will come when they call 911.".When asked if the ministry would consider bringing in any pet-owner bylaws or legislation, Scott Johnston, press secretary, Municipal Affairs, told the Western Standard it is up to municipalities to regulate animals. .“Municipalities have authority under the Municipal Government Act to pass bylaws to regulate, control and issue licenses for wild and domestic animals and activities in relation to them," said Johnston. .“The City of Calgary has a Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw which regulates dogs in the municipality. Dog owners are responsible to comply with the requirements of this bylaw..“Residents must report incidents or bylaw infractions involving aggressive dogs immediately to the City of Calgary.”.In a statement to the Western Standard, AHS said, "This is a tragic event, and our deepest condolences are with the family and friends of this individual." ."Our team is reaching out to the family to share our condolences and to discuss the response directly." ."EMS responded to this call in approximately 30 minutes. This is longer than we expect, and is outside of our target response times." .The statement said EMS was facing "extremely high volume at the time of the incident" and confirmed no ambulances were immediately available to attend the scene, which is located less than 4 km from Foothills Hospital. ."We are grateful to the paramedics who treated the patient at the scene, as well as first responder partners at the Calgary Fire Department, and the Calgary Police Department. .Officers were called to the attack at approximately 2 p.m. in the 1500 block of 21 Avenue N.W. where an 86-year-old woman was attacked by three unknown dogs. The woman was said to be gardening in a back alley when the dogs attacked her. .Nearby neighbours said they tried to intervene during the attack, including the dogs' owner, who was successful in removing the dogs from the scene before first responders arrived. .The woman, who has yet to be identified, waited up to 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. She was eventually transported to hospital in life-threatening condition, but died a short time later. .The three dogs have been identified at a North American pit bull terrier mix, a North American Staffordshire mix and an American pit bull. .The dogs were seized by Calgary Community Standards officers and are being held while the investigation continues. ."This was an extremely tragic event that resulted in the death of an innocent woman," said General Investigations Unit Det. Kerry Parsons, of the Calgary Police Service.."Our condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the victim, as we continue to investigate this incident.".As part of the investigation, police are speaking with all witnesses and charges may be laid in the case. Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the attack to contact the CPS non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. .The City of Calgary released a lengthy survey in the summer of 2020 polling residents on updates to the responsible pet ownership bylaw the city planned to release in the spring of 2021..The questionnaire included several questions mentioning pit bulls as "nuisance dogs." More than 100,000 people responded to the poll with an overwhelming majority against creating rules that single out a specific dog breed. .The current Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw in Calgary does not mention any specific breed of dog in the regulations. .In Canada, the federal government does not regulate pit bull-type dogs, however, some provincial and municipal governments have introduced breed-specific legislation banning or restricting the dogs. .According to the Ban Pit Bulls website, there are restrictions or bans on pit bulls in hundreds of towns and cities across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. .Winnipeg, Manitoba introduced a ban in 2013 on all dogs having the appearance and physical characteristics of American pit bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Stafforshire Terriers. .In 2005, Ontario prohibited pit bull ownership including the banning of any dog with similar characteristics. .In November 2021, the provinces eased those regulations related to the ban, allowing seized dogs resembling the prohibited breed to be released pending investigation. .According to Top Dog Tips website, a pit bull has a bite with a 235 psi, much lower than Mastiff Breeds with a psi of 743. One of the most hated breeds in America, a pit bull is said to be intelligent, loyal and can be very protective. .As pit bulls have been bred as fighting dogs, it's recommended people buy from a reputable breeder and be sure to invest in socialization and obedience training. .The Western Standard contacted The Health Sciences Association of Alberta, the union representing more than 27,000 paramedical workers, for a comment on the growing concerns in the province around ambulance wait times but did not hear back in time for publishing. .More to come....Calgarians need to be safe in their neighbourhoods and they need to know an ambulance will come when they call 911.
