Toronto woman who took dangerous dog to playground where it mauled child facing prison – Toronto

Patrycja Siarek stood in a downtown courtroom Monday and cried as she apologized for taking her dog, which was under a muzzle order, to a playground where it attacked a nine-year-old boy.

“I’m just really sorry, I never would want to hurt a child or hurt anybody, I feel horrible and it’s my fault. I just feel so bad. I’m so sorry and I hope that child’s okay. I know it’s my fault Capo died. It’s terrible thing,” Siarek said addressing Ontario Court Justice Miriam Bloomenfeld.

Siarek pleaded guilty in March to criminal negligence causing bodily harm and two provincial offences act violations, including not complying with the Dog Owners’ Liabiity Act and allowing a dog to run in a non-designated area.

Assistant Crown prosecutor Nathan Kruger said he would be seeking a sentence of three years in prison, along with a 10-year prohibition on owning a dog as per the Dog Owners’ Liability Act.

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It was March 23, 2024, when Siarek took Capo, a three to four-year-old Pitbull-like dog, to Little Norway Park, a playground that prohibited dogs.

Capo was subject to a dangerous dog order at the time, which required him to be muzzled at all times and was prohibited from entering off-leash areas.

Kruger told court Capo had been involved in the three prior dog bite investigations by the City of Toronto.

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Court heard the nine-year-old boy, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, approached the gate of the playground which had not been shut. Capo ran towards the gate and attacked the child, who was there with his father.

Siarek and the boy’s father tried to get Capo off the boy without success. Finally, after approximately two minutes, the dog released its grip from the child’s leg and Siarek left the park without leaving her name nor offering any assistance.

“She knew Capo was dangerous, knew others considered him dangerous, knew there were legal restrictions on him because he was dangerous, and despite this knowledge, she put members of the public and, indeed, Capo in a very dangerous situation,” Kruger told the court.

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“The government took steps to mitigate it. She ignored all of it. To compound her moral culpability is the fact she brough this dangerous dog to a children’s play area, which was fenced off to promote the safety of the children to play in that area. She was using it as a dog enclosure, not on a leash, not with a muzzle. She let the dog run free in an area she knew children would be, despite signage that said dogs couldn’t be there,” Kruger added.

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The Crown said it was further aggravating that Siarek witnessed the dog brutally attacking the nine-year-old boy and she just walked away.

“She didn’t do anything to assist in the aftermath of the attack,” Kruger said. “This despite bystanders documenting what happened and to slow her down from leaving … she just walked away.”

Court heard at the time, Siarek was out on bail for a mischief charge. Kruger noted she also had a criminal record containing 15 convictions for charges including fraud, failing to comply peace orders and obstructing police officers.

Victim impact statements were filed by the boy’s family but not read out in court, the Crown telling court, as per their request.

“They are concerned about their privacy.” Kruger said.

Citing from their court statements, Kruger said the parents explained how horrific it was to go through this and not be able to stop it.

“The child apologized to his parents, asking, ‘would it have just been easier had I died,’ in the course of medical complications and having to re-enter surgery in the face of complications,” Kruger said.

Kruger urged Bloomenfeld to factor the severity of the boy’s injury into her sentence, calling it an aggravating factor.

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“It was negligence that resulted in this outcome for the dog. The Dog Owners’ Liability act was to protect the dog. Capo is not legally responsible for his actions, Ms. Siarek was,” said Kruger.

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Kruger said he’s not sure there’s any significant rehabilitative potential for Siarek given while she consented to the destruction of Capo, she has not done well while on probation in the past.

“She was on bail when this happened and she breached the Dog Owners’ Liabiity Act,” he said.

Defence lawyer Christopher O’Connor called it an extremely tragic situation, but said his client pleaded guilty and is extremely remorseful for what happened.

O”Connor suggested a conditional sentence for Siarek would be appropriate.

“She took the dog to a park to walk the dog and play with the dog that day. It wasn’t, as my friend characterized, that she sought out a children’s play area. It was convenient. There were no children there,” O’Connor explained. “She took the dog in there. She had the leash. She also had the muzzle in her pocket. She took if off to play fetch with him in the enclosed area. Of course, the door wasn’t closed. The child approached the enclosure. The dog immediately ran and caused the events that it did.”

O’Connor noted that there was a seven-year gap from Siarek’s last conviction in 2017 until 2024 when the dog attack happened. He also noted the 39-year-old has gone through a lot of trauma in her past life, including an addiction to opiods, that she has addressed.

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The defence lawyer also explained Siarek suffers from mental health issues including anxiety and depression. O’Connor said Capo was 3 to 4 years old at the time of the attack and had been with Siarek and her boyfriend since Capo was a puppy.

O’Connor told court Siarek was in an abusive relationship to the point in which police were called. O’Connor suggested that the dog would try to intervene to protect Siarek from abuse, and as a result, the boyfriend would beat the dog as well.

O’Connor told court that having to euthanize Capo has had a profound effect on her. “She loved her animals.”

O’Connor said Siarek has been focused on rehabilitation and got a job working as a cleaner.

“Sending her to jail would be a setback. In my view, denunciation and deterrence can be achieved with a conditional sentence,” O’Connor said.

He called the three-year custodial sentence proposed by the crown “excessive.”

The judge will deliver her sentence next month.