A North Vancouver woman is calling for more awareness from dog owners on trails after being bitten in a popular hiking area.
Around midday on Sunday, Natalia Trotman was on a usual run though Lynn Headwaters Regional Park.
After deciding to head down a leash-optional trail, she spotted a family with a dog walking off leash ahead of them.
Trotman said she ran off the path to go around them. But then the dog — a Jack Russel terrier — ran toward her.
She’s used to dogs jumping up on her while running, so Trotman said she slowed down to avoid tripping on it. Then she put out her hand, and the dog bit her thigh, she said.
The dog’s owners immediately apologized and put the dog on a leash, Trotman said. A woman responsible for the dog came up to her, expressing compassion and offering her phone number should Trotman want to get in touch.
Still in shock, Trotman moved to the side of the trail to check her wound. At first she thought it might not have broken through her leggings, but it was worse than she first expected.
“I could just lift up my pants a little to look down, and I saw, like, a ton of blood,” Trotman said. “So I was like, OK, yep, definitely broke through the skin.”
She crouched down.
“Then it just hit me. So I started crying,” Trotman said.
The dog owner came to comfort her further, but Trotman collected herself and said she could make it home fine on her own.
However, to make it there she would have to pass many more off-leash dogs.
“Now, I have those same dogs that were running up to me before, where I’d be like, ‘This is annoying,’ but now I’m crying, shaking and terrified,” she said.
While Trotman is healing, the incident has left her with a swollen gash in her leg, and a new fear of passing though that area.
The part of the trail where she was bit is designated as leash optional. But according to Metro Vancouver, which owns Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, dogs must always be under control — on or off leash.
Per the regional parks bylaw, dogs must be within 10 metres of its owner or caretaker, immediately return when called, and “is not annoying, harassing, or attacking” any person or animal.
People with dogs must always yield the right of way to other hikers and equestrians.
Another area close to Trotman’s is an on-leash area, but she said dogs are off leash there all the time and often jump up on her.
While she didn’t report the dog bite, Trotman said she hopes that by sharing her story, the community can work together to keep the area safe.
“I plead for others to understand that whilst their dog might be kind and wonderful, they don’t know the other half of the scenario. And so if the rule is, put your dog on a leash, please put your dog on a leash,” she said.
“It’s really for all of us to live in the same community. We all have to respect each other,” Trotman said.
The runner said she’s not yet ready to return to her hobby, but hopes to be back at it one day soon.
“I like running because I like feeling free, and I don’t feel free right now, so I know that I have to work through that,” Trotman said.
