Alberta’s police watchdog has cleared Calgary officers of wrongdoing after a nine‑year‑old girl was bitten by a police dog during a pursuit last year.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says the incident happened in February 2025, when Calgary police were tracking a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation in the southeast community of Erin Woods.
The man fled on foot, prompting an officer to release a service dog.
According to the report, the suspect ran through a backyard and into a nearby field where the nine‑year‑old girl and a friend were playing. The dog bit the girl as she started to run, causing cuts to her thigh and head as well as scrapes from falling.
ASIRT concluded that, while the outcome was “extremely unfortunate,” the officer acted reasonably in deploying the dog, and there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any offence was committed.
ASIRT investigates any police interaction in the province that results in serious injury or death.
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