By Daniela Germano
The Canadian Press
Posted May 12, 2026 3:43 pm
Updated May 12, 2026 3:52 pm
2 min read
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A trial in Edmonton is hearing grisly details about the behaviour of two dogs later put down for biting a boy on the neck and killing him.
Shawn Hesse testified that one day in 2023 he owned a Pomeranian that got loose at his home and ran toward the two Cane Corsos that later killed 11-year-old Kache Grist from Osoyoos, B.C.
Kache Grist, 11, was attacked and killed by two dogs on April 1.
Supplied/Kendrah Wong
He says the two Cane Corsos grabbed his dog from different sides and tried to tear it apart.
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He rushed the Pomeranian to a veterinarian, but it later died.
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During Monday’s opening day of testimony, court heard how the dogs, had a documented history of aggression in the nine months leading up to Kache’s death.
Court was told they killed the Pomeranian, bit the owner’s downstairs tenant in the leg so bad he required stitches, killed the same tenant’s cat in a separate incident and even injured their owner herself so badly she was forced to seek medical treatment.
The owner of the Cane Corsos, named Chaos and Cairo, is Crystal Jean McDonald. The unneutered dogs weighed 50 kg (110 pounds) and 57 kg (125 pounds).
MacDonald is on trial facing a charge of criminal negligence causing death after the dogs killed Kache at her home in south Edmonton’s Summerside neighbourhood.
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Kache was visiting his father, who was a tenant of McDonald and lived in the same home as his landlord, during spring break in April 2024, when he was bitten in the neck by at least one larg-breed dog.
The Crown is attempting to prove that McDonald should have known her dogs were dangerous, given the reports of their aggressive history prior to the fatal attack on Kache.
The trial is scheduled to run through Tuesday of next week, with a dozen witnesses expected to take the stand for the Crown.
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