‘Confluence of errors’ led to girl being bitten by Calgary police dog: ASIRT

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said a series of errors led to a nine-year-old girl being bitten on the leg by a police service dog on Feb. 12, 2025. (Supplied/ASIRT)

Calgary’s police watchdog says no offence was committed when a police service dog attacked and bit a nine-year-old girl last year.

On Wednesday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) released its formal report into the incident that took place on Feb. 12, 2025.

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In it, ASIRT said a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation was being pursued on foot and refused to stop for police, so officers deployed a police service dog (PSD) to chase them down.

During the operation, the dog’s handler lost sight of the animal and could not issue commands.

‘Why I hate dogs’: victim

As a result, the police service dog lost track of the suspect it was following and instead came across a nine-year-old girl in a greenspace.

ASIRT said the girl was startled by the dog’s appearance and began to run, prompting the dog to run after her, lunge and bite her backpack and leg.

At that point, the police dog’s handler arrived and called off the animal.

The victim, who suffered puncture wounds to her leg, was helped to a police vehicle, where she waited for an ambulance.

“This is why I hate dogs,” the ASIRT report says she told one of the officers.

The ASIRT report reviewed the case through an examination of available footage, as well as testimony from the police dog’s handler.

The handler told investigators he was not aware a gate was left open to the yard where the suspect was seen running into.

“He had expected to hear the offender struggling with the PSD or screaming because of the contact made by the PSD and was surprised when he didn’t,” the ASIRT report read.

“He then observed an open gate at the back of the yard and heard HAWCS transmit over the radio that his PSD was in a field with some children.”

ASIRT said that PSD handlers can face criminal charges if they deploy their animals in circumstances that do not abide by their standard training or guidelines.

“Criminal negligence causing bodily harm looks at whether there was a marked and substantial departure from the conduct of a reasonably prudent person. In this case, there is no evidence that this duty was breached to the requisite criminal standard,” ASIRT said.

“There was a confluence of errors that contributed to the unfortunate outcome on this date.

“There were environmental factors that the (subject officer) was not aware of at the time he deployed his PSD. For example, the (subject officer) was not aware that there was an open greenspace, where children were present, behind the residence that the suspect was running towards. He was also unaware that the backyard gate of that residence had been left open.”

ASIRT says the officer acted reasonably in response to apprehend a fleeing suspect and though “the outcome was serious and extremely unfortunate,” there were no reasonable grounds that an offence was committed.