Dog Held By Vaughan Animal Services For Weeks Has Allegedly Bitten A Teenage Boy

The boy told Narcity he is now having nightmares

Narcity.com
Nov. 11, 2021
Brooke Houghton

A dog that was held by animal services for weeks has now allegedly bitten a teenage boy.

Family dog Dwaeji, also known as Blu, who is a 1-year-old American Pocket Bully, was picked up by Vaughan Animal Services in October and held for weeks under suspicion that he was a pit bull.

His family protested and advocated for his release online, inspiring rallies against Ontario's pit bull ban regulations.

Dwaeji was released to his owner Tommy Chang earlier this month, and days later, allegations of him biting a 12-year-old Muhammad Almutaz Alzghool in the face have surfaced.

The boy was at Black Belt World, a taekwondo studio in downtown Toronto, on November 5, where Dwaeji's Chang is listed as a grand master and the studio's owner.

Muhammad's experience
Muhammad told Narcity that Chang's son, who is an instructor at the studio, pushed him to "overcome" his fear and interact with Dwaeji after class.

Muhammad says the dog was initially in the studio and then moved into the back room. Throughout the class, he says he saw the dog a "couple times" while grabbing things to set up for the class.

While putting away a table in the back room where Dwaeji was leashed up, he says the instructor came up and asked him if he was afraid of dogs.

"I said yes, and he took the table and put it where the dog was sitting and then he told me, 'You have to overcome your fears and if you don't, you're not going to be a taekwondo national champion.'"

"So I looked at the dog, and then he jumped and bit my face."

According to Muhammad's father, Muath Alzghool, he needed "20 to 25 stitches."

When the bite occurred, Muath says he heard a scream from the other room and knew it was his son.

"My dad came in after me screaming, and he was going to call 911 to get an ambulance and the police."

Muhammad says his instructor reportedly discouraged them, saying," Your son's not going to die."

"I was terrified in that moment because I had never been in this situation before," says Muath.

After taking a breath, he says he started to call 911, but the instructor reportedly started "begging" him not to do so.

"He didn't really care about me he cared about the dog more because he didn't want it to get taken away," said Muhammad.

Muhammad says that he is scared of having scars on his face and that he has been having reoccurring nightmares of the incident.

Owner Tommy Chang's statement
Chang's lawyer, Leo Kinahan, released a statement on the incident and recalled a different series of events. Although they agree the boy was bitten, they say the circumstance "leading up to and including the bite in various interviews is simply put, not true."

Kinahan says that video evidence, which was viewed by Narcity, shows Muhammad interacted with Dwaeji "on several occasions prior to being bitten and appears to show no fear or trepidation of the animal" and that his actions during some of their interactions "could be described as somewhat antagonistic towards the animal."

Ten minutes before Muhammad was bitten, Kinahan says the video shows that he walked into the empty back room where Dwaeji is leashed to a post and "sits in a chair facing the dog, approximately 2 feet away and leans down facing the dog, reducing the distance to approximately 12-18 inches away and puts his hand out just in front of the dog's face."

A few minutes later, Kinahan says the video shows that Muhammad comes back into the room and sits down in front of the dog and makes a "punching motion with his one fist into the palm of his other hand."

Kinahan says the video shows that the boy interacted with the dog several times before being bitten, and in those interactions, he waved his hand in front of the dogs face, tossed a ball towards the dog, danced in front of the dog and spoke to the dog while "motioning with his hands."

In their final interaction, he comes back into the room carrying a table with another student while other students are "milling" around the dog and puts the table down.

"The instructor is engaged with several students, including the young man, who does not appear to be speaking and is walking around at times with his back to the instructor and does not appear to be paying attention to him at times during the brief encounter."

The instructor then moves two tables close to Dwaeji as Muhammad walks towards the dog.

"When he is right in front of the dog, he bends down toward him with his left arm/hand extended towards the dog. As he is doing so, the instructor, who is in front of the young man and does not appear to know he is near the dog, moves the nearby table towards the body of the dog, possibly encountering the body of the dog."

According to Kinahan, the dog "jumps up and appears to bite the left side of the young man's face. The contact is momentary; literally one second and he is back on the floor."

What happens next
Toronto Police Service told Narcity they have an "incident report on file for a animal bite."

Vaughan Animal Services, which previously held the dog, told Narcity they have also "received a report about the incident."

Muath is petitioning for Premier Doug Ford to reconsider the recent amendments for "dangerous dog breeds" bans in Ontario.

In a Facebook post, he writes, "My family seeks your kind support to encourage Mr Doug Ford to reconsider his latest law amendment with respect to the dangerous dog breeds, and impose a strict set of regulations on business entities that deal with minors to guarantee their safety and well being."

Muath clarified to Narcity that he has nothing against any breed of dog but believes that "we need more regulation" and "more restrictions" when it comes to dogs entering areas like gyms or clubs where minors are present.

"This was so hard, I don't want anybody to face what I faced," he said. "We are not against dogs. We are not against people who own dogs. Basically, we care about our kids and we care about all Canadian kids."

In a press conference on Wednesday, Doug Ford states, "First of all, my thoughts are with the young boy that got bitten and their family." However, when asked if he will continue to relax rules towards pit bulls, he states, "Nothing is going to change right at this point."