Luan Kurti said his year-old daughter was feeling a bit better on Monday, two days after she was attacked by a large dog in a public park, but it was still too soon to say whether damage to her eye is permanent.
Kurti told the Citizen on Sunday that the injury to daughter Lorina’s eye was “really serious” and that he feared the dog’s bite might have caused permanent sight damage.
But for now, he said Monday, all the family can do is wait.
“We have to wait another week to see how she’s doing. She’s doing good, but they can’t figure yet if there’s serious damage or not on her eye.”
Hospital staff were unable to provide an update when reached on Monday.
Kurti said he witnessed the attack at General Burns Park at about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. He said his wife had turned to attend to their three-year-old son when their daughter wandered a short distance and encountered the loose dog.
“I was very close,” he said Sunday. “I was going to pick up my son. She just turned around and turned back and I saw her there crying and bleeding … The dog bit her above the eye.”
The girl was taken to Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario for emergency surgery. She was released from CHEO at 4 a.m., but Kurti said he was called by The Ottawa Hospital around 9 a.m. on Sunday to meet with specialists at the General campus who could better assess his daughter’s condition.
He said the family has another appointment on Monday, June 1.
Ottawa Bylaw Services were investigating the attack. Kurti said bylaw officers told him the dog’s owner would be facing a fine of at least a $750.
Under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act, the city has the ability to have the dog put down should an investigation prove that it attacked the toddler.
With files from Vito Pilieci
