A North Shore artist is recovering from dog bite wounds this week after being mistakenly attacked by a North Vancouver police dog in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Gerry Marks was attacked by the German shepherd police dog Stat, as he was walking home from the Maplewood Pub sometime after 1:30 a.m.
Marks, 54, said he was walking across a school field, a short distance ahead of two friends, when a huge dog rushed out of the darkness and lunged at him, biting him on the right leg.
Marks said he fell to the ground, where the dog continued to bite him.
He kept moving his arms and legs to keep the dog away from him while screaming to his friends for help. "I figured the faster I moved the less chance it had," he said. "The other thing I felt was this incredible terror. I had no particular consciousness of anything except the dog and me."
Joe Konrad, a friend of Marks who was walking nearby, said the first he knew something was happening "I heard the dog attacking someone . . . then I heard Gerry's voice yelling 'Get this dog off me.'"
Marks said the attack probably lasted about 30 seconds before the police officer called off the dog, but it felt like longer. "I've never been attacked by a dog in my life before," said Marks. "It was a very frightening experience."
Marks said he lost a "fair bit of blood" from the bite wounds on his arms and leg. He was taken to hospital by the police, where he had his wounds dressed and received a tetanus shot, before being driven home.
But it's the mental trauma of the attack that bothers him more than his physical wounds. "We saw a dog the other day, and he just about freaked out," said Konrad.
North Vancouver RCMP described the dog attack on Marks this week as a mistake.
The mistake happened essentially because Marks happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, said Cpl. Bob Powell, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP.
Just moments before, the police dog had been released by Const. Richard Gingras to chase break-in suspects spotted running away from Maplewood Community school, said Powell.
Powell said Marks was hidden behind a small rise in the field at the time.
A statement issued by the police said the RCMP "deeply regret" the "set of highly unfortunate circumstances resulted in Mr. Marks being bitten by one of our dogs." Police are now conducting an internal review.
Marks said he hasn't decided yet whether to launch a lawsuit over the attack but is talking to a lawyer.
Powell said Stat remains on duty following Saturday's attack on Marks.
It's not the first time attacks by North Vancouver police dogs have recently been questioned.
In March, the police dog Astro was deemed a dangerous offender by the City of Langley after it bit a gardener while home off duty with his handler.
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