WARNING: This story contains details about a dog attack.
Heavenly Monias says she’s been bombarded with questions about the story behind her scars since she got back home to her northern Manitoba First Nation earlier this month.
“They say, ‘What happened to your cheek? What happened to your arm? What happened? Can you tell me the story?'” Heavenly said.
Although the nine-year-old usually isn’t comfortable sharing the story of how she was mauled by 10 dogs in Norway House Cree Nation last month, she detailed what happened to CBC News this week.
She was walking home after going out to look for her younger brother on the night of Aug. 15, when she noticed a pack of dogs, she said.
Then they started to chase her.
She’ll never forget running from the dogs before she fell to the ground, she said.
“That’s when the dogs got me and started biting me, scratching me.”
Her cheek was gashed, and she was also bitten on her chest and arm. She remembers crying and spitting out blood before a passerby chased the dogs away.
“I was so hurt.”
‘You have to watch your back’: grandmother
The nine-year-old was flown to Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, where her cheek was stitched up from her ear down to her mouth.
She’s still wearing a cast because she can’t straighten her arm properly yet, and she’s been travelling back and forth to Winnipeg for physical therapy.
Lorraine Trout, Heavenly’s grandmother, says Norway House captured some of the dogs running free in the community in the first days after the attack.
But there are still many dogs running around the First Nation, and leadership isn’t doing enough to stop them, she said.
It’s “as if they completely forgot” about her granddaughter, she said.
“Something has to be done with those dogs before they attack someone, or kill someone,” said Trout. “Pretty soon, they’re going to kill somebody, if they don’t do anything.”
She says Heavenly’s eldest sister was nearly attacked by a group of dogs in Norway House about a week ago. Trout fears the animals might corner her one day.
“It’s pretty sickening — like, you have to watch your back,” Trout said.
She said she still sees some of the dogs that are believed to have been involved in the attack on Heavenly, and she’s been working to figure out who owns them.
No charges laid: RCMP
The RCMP say no charges have been laid following the attack on Heavenly, since none of the owners of the dogs have been identified.
“The RCMP are not looking for the dogs, as there are too many in the community and the victim is not in a position to positively identify which one attacked her,” Sgt. Paul Manaigre told CBC in a Wednesday email.
Deon Clarke, a Norway House band councillor, says a new bylaw to ensure all dogs in the community are leashed and registered could come into effect in the coming days.
“Once we’re able to identify which dogs are dangerous, then we can start laying penalties on the dog owners,” he said.
“Until that registry is put in place, we’re kind of stuck in this situation.”
Meanwhile, Heavenly says she worries someone else will get hurt the way she did.
After she went to Winnipeg for medical treatment, she was scared to go back home because of the dogs, she said, but her grandmother has been keeping a close eye on her, making sure they don’t get too close.
“I get [anxious] when I see a dog, because sometimes there’s dogs [around] my school,” said Heavenly.
When she was in hospital, she was also scared that she would lose her smile, but that’s no longer the case.
“I can smile now.”
Heavenly Monias, 9, usually isn’t comfortable sharing the story of how she was mauled by 10 dogs in Norway House Cree Nation last month, but she detailed what happened to CBC News this week. Her grandmother says some of the dogs responsible are still loose in the community and people aren’t safe.