Updates on our request for public support: Dog Bite incident to our son.
The Issue
Our earlier message.
We are using this to request support towards justice. The NovaDOC African Community in Winnipeg is soliciting support in solidarity and a quest for justice from the general public and other immigrant communities in Manitoba.
We will share the first hand details (as obtained from the parents) regarding the dog bite from police dog incident below:
On Wednesday 14 December, 2022, our son, Daniel Aloba was bitten by a Winnipeg Police dog during a visit to his school, Samuel Burland School, under the Louis Riel School Division.
On Wednesday 14 December, 2022 at about 11:05 AM my wife was called from Daniel's school informing her that our son had been involved in an incident, a dog bite. She immediately went to the school while I had to wait to take time off work to join her. On reaching the school, I saw Daniel in my wife's arms with a white cloth gauze covering his mouth all stained in blood. Paramedics and school staff were also around providing care. I was informed at that point that the K-9 Unit of the Winnipeg Police had visited the school and when kids were asked to take pictures with the dog, Daniel tripped in front of the dog and the dog probably felt threatened and bit him on the lips.
Daniel was transported to the Children's Emergency Hospital at about 12:30 PM and we had to wait for several hours before a plastic surgeon arrived at 7:10 PM to stitch his lips. All this while, Daniel could not eat nor drink and he had not had lunch prior to the incident. The doctor administered anaesthesia to make him less resistant while being stitched and freezing was also injected to numb the area to be stitched. We had to wrap him up like a burrito to prevent him from struggling while I held him firmly and the nurse held his head to keep him stable during the procedure. Daniel had about eight to nine stitches on his lower lips as I was counting but the sight was too traumatizing for me to keep up with the actual figure. We eventually left the hospital after his treatment at about 8:09 PM. He got a prescription of Clavulin, an antibiotic to prevent the injury from a possible infection and we were advised to buy Tylenol to ease his pain which we did. Daniel could barely eat after the procedure. We tried feeding him to have some food but he could only manage to have fluids with a straw. He was weak, in pain, exhausted, and could barely speak.
Day 2, Thursday 15 December, the discomfort and inability to feed and drink was a thing to deal with for us. We had to feed him which we had not done with him for more than two years since he would usually eat by himself. Then, he began to show us the injury at different times all day saying the police dog bite me, and asking why did the dog bite me? This has been hard for us as parents because he has not stopped asking questions about the dog bite and why him.
Day 3, Friday 16 December, Daniel could speak much better, eat and drink by himself but with obvious disinterest in the food due to pain and discomfort. We were visited at home by two officers from the K-9 Unit of the Winnipeg Police and two of Daniel's Kindergarten teachers.
Day 4, Saturday 17 December, at about 10:00 AM, we had a scare with Daniel. In a very unusual manner, Daniel while eating began to cry, held his neck with one hand, and had the other hand in his mouth, crying, and attempting to throw up. That lingered and we called emergency services. First responders from the fire department arrived and began to provide care. We were assured that his oxygen level was fine and his breathing was unobstructed which was a relief but there was no improvement. Soon after, the paramedics arrived and after a while he was calm and began to fall asleep. This was new to us and definitely a terrifying experience as nothing was administered to him before he became calm. He was transported to the Children's Emergency Hospital at about 12:30 PM and after all the checks, we were seen by a doctor who confirmed that all looked good with him, gave him chocolate milk and cookies to eat to be sure he would be fine to eat at home, and we were discharged after Advil was administered to him at about 4:00 PM. Later that evening, my wife received a call from a police representative that they learnt Daniel was at the hospital for emergency care and wanted to know how he was doing.
Daniel continued to recover well and on Wednesday, 21 December we went in for his follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon who assured that he was recovering well and explained that there was no sign of infection. His next appointment was scheduled in three months and that was relieving. Later that day, we were contacted by the CBC and we learnt that the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of the Winnipeg Police had dropped the case on investigating the incident. The communication from the Police further stated that the case is not deemed as a serious injury and an independent investigation could be launched, if there is enough public interest in the incident. For us as an already traumatized family waiting for the custodians of the law to do the right thing, this has many shades of wrong. The position of the IIU is tainted in discriminatory parlance, and the fact that we did not get any form of communication on the decision and why that decision was taken is preposterous.
On this note, we are seeking the support of relevant members of the public to weigh in on this matter to arouse public interest demanding the reopening of the investigation, seek accountability, justice, and responsible leadership from all parties whose negligence have brought this difficult situation on our dear son and on the entire family.
This situation begs to ask the following questions:
- Must there be a public outcry before the right thing is done (a thorough investigation and not a subpar gloss over)?
- What are the procedural steps by the police division when an employee (the K9 is an employee) attacks a citizen, much less a child?
- Who was negligent with the K9? What were the steps taken?
- Should the K9 be wearing a muzzle in display when not in active duty?
- What will the Winnipeg police do to prevent a reoccurrence of this situation in schools and other public places?
- Must cases like this be CLOSED without recourse to the affected family on the outcome of the investigation from the IIU?
- We ask that K9 police dog activities be done in schools after obtaining written consent from parents and guardians of the students.
- We request to be included in platforms to dialogue and promote cultural and unique understanding about roles of police, dogs etc
In line with the response of the IIU, we ask concerned members of the public to support the quest to reopen the case by signing this form. Together, we can get some action taken on this matter.
Public Disclaimer:
We are not threatening nor inciting any form of violence nor disrupting peace in any way. We are only calling for help through a public outcry in getting the case reopened, and getting justice for our son. If this gets swept under the carpet, a dog bite to another student/member of the public is imminent.
Updates on our request for public support: Dog Bite incident to our son.
The NovaDOC African Community will like to express thanks and sincerely appreciate all who stood by us in solidarity and helped in many little ways to achieve get the required attention from relevant stakeholders.
We would like to particularly appreciate certain persons and groups who were pivotal to this advocacy and whose social capital and contributions we are really grateful for.
Councillor Markus Chambers
Dr Adejobi Adeloye
Mr Shola Agboola
Mr Akinsola Oyeusi
Oyin Ajibola, Publisher Immigrant Muse
Uzoma Asagwara MLA
Nahanni Fontaine MLA
NovaDOC Nigerian Community
Mahatma Ghandi Centre
Association of Black Conservatives (ABC)
RCCG ICC Winnipeg
Through this, we have also got legal counsel and representation on contingency basis to help on regarding this matter.
All this will not have been possible without the public outcry through your signatures.
Going forward, our legal counsel will represent us on this matter and as such we will be taking down this petition by 5pm Winnipeg time. All other support, intent to interview, intent to visit and correspondence on this matter should be sent to novadocamba@gmail.com
Thank you once again for supporting us in getting our voice heard.
Petition Closed
The Issue
Our earlier message.
We are using this to request support towards justice. The NovaDOC African Community in Winnipeg is soliciting support in solidarity and a quest for justice from the general public and other immigrant communities in Manitoba.
We will share the first hand details (as obtained from the parents) regarding the dog bite from police dog incident below:
On Wednesday 14 December, 2022, our son, Daniel Aloba was bitten by a Winnipeg Police dog during a visit to his school, Samuel Burland School, under the Louis Riel School Division.
On Wednesday 14 December, 2022 at about 11:05 AM my wife was called from Daniel's school informing her that our son had been involved in an incident, a dog bite. She immediately went to the school while I had to wait to take time off work to join her. On reaching the school, I saw Daniel in my wife's arms with a white cloth gauze covering his mouth all stained in blood. Paramedics and school staff were also around providing care. I was informed at that point that the K-9 Unit of the Winnipeg Police had visited the school and when kids were asked to take pictures with the dog, Daniel tripped in front of the dog and the dog probably felt threatened and bit him on the lips.
Daniel was transported to the Children's Emergency Hospital at about 12:30 PM and we had to wait for several hours before a plastic surgeon arrived at 7:10 PM to stitch his lips. All this while, Daniel could not eat nor drink and he had not had lunch prior to the incident. The doctor administered anaesthesia to make him less resistant while being stitched and freezing was also injected to numb the area to be stitched. We had to wrap him up like a burrito to prevent him from struggling while I held him firmly and the nurse held his head to keep him stable during the procedure. Daniel had about eight to nine stitches on his lower lips as I was counting but the sight was too traumatizing for me to keep up with the actual figure. We eventually left the hospital after his treatment at about 8:09 PM. He got a prescription of Clavulin, an antibiotic to prevent the injury from a possible infection and we were advised to buy Tylenol to ease his pain which we did. Daniel could barely eat after the procedure. We tried feeding him to have some food but he could only manage to have fluids with a straw. He was weak, in pain, exhausted, and could barely speak.
Day 2, Thursday 15 December, the discomfort and inability to feed and drink was a thing to deal with for us. We had to feed him which we had not done with him for more than two years since he would usually eat by himself. Then, he began to show us the injury at different times all day saying the police dog bite me, and asking why did the dog bite me? This has been hard for us as parents because he has not stopped asking questions about the dog bite and why him.
Day 3, Friday 16 December, Daniel could speak much better, eat and drink by himself but with obvious disinterest in the food due to pain and discomfort. We were visited at home by two officers from the K-9 Unit of the Winnipeg Police and two of Daniel's Kindergarten teachers.
Day 4, Saturday 17 December, at about 10:00 AM, we had a scare with Daniel. In a very unusual manner, Daniel while eating began to cry, held his neck with one hand, and had the other hand in his mouth, crying, and attempting to throw up. That lingered and we called emergency services. First responders from the fire department arrived and began to provide care. We were assured that his oxygen level was fine and his breathing was unobstructed which was a relief but there was no improvement. Soon after, the paramedics arrived and after a while he was calm and began to fall asleep. This was new to us and definitely a terrifying experience as nothing was administered to him before he became calm. He was transported to the Children's Emergency Hospital at about 12:30 PM and after all the checks, we were seen by a doctor who confirmed that all looked good with him, gave him chocolate milk and cookies to eat to be sure he would be fine to eat at home, and we were discharged after Advil was administered to him at about 4:00 PM. Later that evening, my wife received a call from a police representative that they learnt Daniel was at the hospital for emergency care and wanted to know how he was doing.
Daniel continued to recover well and on Wednesday, 21 December we went in for his follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon who assured that he was recovering well and explained that there was no sign of infection. His next appointment was scheduled in three months and that was relieving. Later that day, we were contacted by the CBC and we learnt that the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of the Winnipeg Police had dropped the case on investigating the incident. The communication from the Police further stated that the case is not deemed as a serious injury and an independent investigation could be launched, if there is enough public interest in the incident. For us as an already traumatized family waiting for the custodians of the law to do the right thing, this has many shades of wrong. The position of the IIU is tainted in discriminatory parlance, and the fact that we did not get any form of communication on the decision and why that decision was taken is preposterous.
On this note, we are seeking the support of relevant members of the public to weigh in on this matter to arouse public interest demanding the reopening of the investigation, seek accountability, justice, and responsible leadership from all parties whose negligence have brought this difficult situation on our dear son and on the entire family.
This situation begs to ask the following questions:
- Must there be a public outcry before the right thing is done (a thorough investigation and not a subpar gloss over)?
- What are the procedural steps by the police division when an employee (the K9 is an employee) attacks a citizen, much less a child?
- Who was negligent with the K9? What were the steps taken?
- Should the K9 be wearing a muzzle in display when not in active duty?
- What will the Winnipeg police do to prevent a reoccurrence of this situation in schools and other public places?
- Must cases like this be CLOSED without recourse to the affected family on the outcome of the investigation from the IIU?
- We ask that K9 police dog activities be done in schools after obtaining written consent from parents and guardians of the students.
- We request to be included in platforms to dialogue and promote cultural and unique understanding about roles of police, dogs etc
In line with the response of the IIU, we ask concerned members of the public to support the quest to reopen the case by signing this form. Together, we can get some action taken on this matter.
Public Disclaimer:
We are not threatening nor inciting any form of violence nor disrupting peace in any way. We are only calling for help through a public outcry in getting the case reopened, and getting justice for our son. If this gets swept under the carpet, a dog bite to another student/member of the public is imminent.
Updates on our request for public support: Dog Bite incident to our son.
The NovaDOC African Community will like to express thanks and sincerely appreciate all who stood by us in solidarity and helped in many little ways to achieve get the required attention from relevant stakeholders.
We would like to particularly appreciate certain persons and groups who were pivotal to this advocacy and whose social capital and contributions we are really grateful for.
Councillor Markus Chambers
Dr Adejobi Adeloye
Mr Shola Agboola
Mr Akinsola Oyeusi
Oyin Ajibola, Publisher Immigrant Muse
Uzoma Asagwara MLA
Nahanni Fontaine MLA
NovaDOC Nigerian Community
Mahatma Ghandi Centre
Association of Black Conservatives (ABC)
RCCG ICC Winnipeg
Through this, we have also got legal counsel and representation on contingency basis to help on regarding this matter.
All this will not have been possible without the public outcry through your signatures.
Going forward, our legal counsel will represent us on this matter and as such we will be taking down this petition by 5pm Winnipeg time. All other support, intent to interview, intent to visit and correspondence on this matter should be sent to novadocamba@gmail.com
Thank you once again for supporting us in getting our voice heard.
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Petition created on December 27, 2022