Aupaluk dog attack raises safety concerns

A father in Aupaluk is calling for better animal control after his daughter was attacked by three dogs last month.

Six-year-old Skyla Gordon was walking toward her father Charlie Gordon’s workplace, a vehicle repair garage, in early August when the incident happened.

He said his daughter’s uncle called him on FaceTime to tell him about the attack and that Skyla Gordon ended up at the nursing station to get treatment for multiple bites.

“I think it’s mostly thanks to her thick coat that she was wearing that day. The wounds would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for her coat,” Charlie Gordon said in an interview.

He is calling on dog owners in the community to keep their dogs tied up to prevent another attack. He also said Aupaluk needs designated facilities for dealing with loose dogs.

Although they were loose at the time, the dogs involved in the attack had owners who eventually claimed them, Charlie Gordon said.

Another girl was attacked by dogs about a week after his daughter’s attack, he added.

Skyla Gordon is recovering well, although she’s still processing what happened, her dad said.

“She’s doing a lot better now. She’s still playing outside with her other friends,” he said. “But I think, mentally, she’s still scared of loose dogs.”

Nunatsiaq News could not reach Aupaluk Mayor Maggie Akpahatak for an interview.

A 2020 study published in BMC Public Health by researchers from the University of Montreal and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services found that children were particularly vulnerable to potential rabies exposures in Nunavik.

Children aged 5 to 14 accounted for about one-third of the 320 reported exposures recorded between 2008 and 2017.

Among children under five, 86.6 per cent of reported exposures involved bites, according to the study.

The incident in Aupaluk occurred as Nunavut grapples with “several” dog attacks across the territory, according to the  territory’s Department of Health.

An 11-year-old girl in Iqaluit was medevaced late last month after suffering wounds from a dog attack in the city’s downtown core. The department did not elaborate on any of the other incidents, citing privacy, but warned people to be wary around unfamiliar dogs, especially stray dogs, dogs that are eating, and dogs with puppies.