A 2½-year-old boy was taken to hospital and received stitches on Monday after he was bitten on the hip by a West Vancouver Police dog.
The North Vancouver youngster, whose name was not disclosed, was treated at Lions Gate Hospital and released.
The child was with his five-year-old brother and father at the northwest corner of Queens and Lonsdale Avenue at the time of the incident.
Queen's Cross employee Brandy Howard said the two children and their father were in the Queen's Cross pub's cold beer and wine store shortly before the incident. A clerk there had given them balloons.
North Vancouver RCMP Const. Heidi Hoffman said the youngster was sitting on a sidewalk behind bushes near the Esso gas station on the northwest corner of the intersection.
The youngster was not seen by police officers, said Hoffman. The police dog went directly to the child and bit him.
"The dog handler took him off the boy immediately," said Hoffman. "It is extremely upsetting to our detachment and everyone involved."
North Vancouver Mounties were called to the area by a resident of the 100-block of West Queens to investigate a break and enter report.
Hoffman said a woman thought a burglar was still in the home because a light was on in the basement and there were some household items left near a door.
Hoffman said none of the three North Vancouver RCMP dogs were working at the time.
A West Vancouver Police dog was called in to assist because the two departments have a reciprocal agreement under which either department can call on the other for dog squad assistance.
The West Vancouver Police dog started to track the suspect from the house in an easterly direction on the north side of Queens.
The burglary suspect was not caught. Hoffman said between $5,000 and $6,000 in property was taken from the home.
The burglar smashed a basement window to get into the home.
Eyewitness Mike McKilligan had just left the Queen's Cross pub when he saw the police officer trailing 15 feet behind the leashed dog, heading east.
"The dog took a left, grabbed the child, the police officer ran up grabbed the dog and held it there," McKilligan said.
"I just saw the dog on top of the child, biting it."
"I was pretty much in shock. We grabbed a couple first aid kits and ran over.
"The cop was definitely upset, as were the parents and the child."
West Vancouver Police Sgt. Jim Almas said the dog is a male German shepherd, born June 10, 1995.
"The dog has been taken out of service, pending full results of investigation," Almas said.
"The dog will undergo a thorough medical examination, as well as an investigation to look at all different aspects of training and tracking."
Almas refused to say whether the dog involved in Monday's incident was the same dog involved in a July 31 incident at Ambleside Beach Park.
At least one teenager was bitten by a police dog after West Vancouver Police responded to a report of a skateboard-wielding youth who was robbing teenagers.
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