beaches unleashed dog

An elderly Toronto man was left with broken bones after colliding into an off-leash dog

An elderly Toronto man was left with broken bones after colliding into a dog that was off-leash in The Beaches last week. 

On Oct. 15, Christine Duranleau says she was walking near Kew Beach and Kippendavie Avenues, around 3:30 p.m., when she found the man lying on the ground. 

Duranleau told blogTO that she was walking on the Martin Goodman Trail when she noticed a couple rollerblading with their dog, who was off-leash, walking in front of them. 

The dog, about the size of a Golden Retriever, seemed calm, but suddenly began running away from the owners to chase squirrels in a nearby grassy area. 

Duranleau described the dog as running really fast, zig-zagging through people. Suddenly, she noticed an elderly man who had fallen off of his bike in the near distance. 

Duranleau approached the man and became concerned when she saw he was silent and not moving at all. 

She noticed his eyes were open so she started asking if he was okay, and the elderly man muttered, "it was that damn dog." 

Another person was already on the phone with 911, as the elderly man told Duranleau that he hit the ground so hard and didn't want to move. She later learned that he ended up with a broken pelvis due to the fall.

At this point, Duranleau says the rollerblading couple were about 30 to 40 feet away, calling their dog back to regain control of it, while facing where the incident happened. 

"They probably didn't see the impact of the fall, but in my mind, if you see your dog is running all over the place and then there's a person lying on the ground, you should be able to put two and two together," said Duranleau. 

A wad of dog hair was stuck to the front of the elderly man's bicycle, Duranleau says, which made her wonder whether the dog might've been injured too. 

While the elderly man remained lying on the ground, he asked Duranleau to take a photo of him to document what had happened until emergency services arrived. 

The City of Toronto says dogs need to be kept leashed, unless they're in designated off-leash areas. If an owner allows their dog to be off-leash in undesignated areas, they could face fines of up to $365.00

Lead photo by

Christine Duranleau


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