Barrie man says he used snow brush to save child from violent dog attack

A man's quick thinking—and a snow brush—may have saved an 11-year-old boy's life after a dog attacked him Monday morning in Barrie.

It was around 8:45 a.m., in the area of Essa Road and Loggers Run, and 28-year-old Shawn Hillan was beginning his day like any other day, when he noticed something in the parking lot.

"I immediately drove down to it, and that's when I noticed there was a boy getting attacked by a dog," Hillan told Barrie360.

He said there was a man over top of the boy, trying to shield him, but he was struggling.

"That's when I immediately jumped out of my car and started kicking the dog as much as I could, trying to get it to stop from going at the boy."

But kicking wasn't enough.

"I didn't see any chance of getting him stopping," Hillan said.

So he ran back to his car and looked for the first thing he could find--a snow brush--and returned to the scene, hitting the dog until it eventually backed up.

This gave Hillan and the bystanders time to attempt to pull the boy to safety. Hillan said everyone was focused on not getting bitten themselves.

"The dog ended up going back at the boy, and that's when I kind of started hitting the dog a little harder and really trying to get it away from him. At that point,the dog kind of gave up a little bit, and that's when I just grabbed the kid off the ground, and I threw him in my car."

Even when the boy was in his arms, Hillan said the dog was still jumping at the child and trying to bite him. Once he got the boy into the car and shut the door, the animal began to circle the vehicle.

Barrie Police have said the child was on a scooter when he was attacked.

By the time first responders got to the scene, the dog was gone.

Hillan said the boy was badly injured.

"His legs were cut up very severely-- like deep, deep gashes--that would definitely need staples or stitches. The dog was going head to toe, biting him."

Once the boy was secured in Hillan's car, he tried to reach the child's mother by phone. When there was no answer, he asked the boy for his address, reasoning that he must live nearby since he had been walking to school. Hillan ran to the boy's house while others took care of the child.

"I figured he needed his mom," he said.

By the time he got to the house, the boy's mother was leaving and did not notice Hillan.

The child was transported by paramedics to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

What makes the story unsettling for Hillan is that he had a premonition.

Hillan says the dog, which he is sure was a pit bull, was being looked after by a neighbour. Just a few days earlier, on Friday night, he had watched the neigbour walking the animal on a leash.

"I noticed the dog kind of pulling at him, like he had seen something, but I didn't notice what he was looking at. The guy brought him in instantly. But in that moment, I had this bad feeling that something bad would happen with this dog," Hillan said.

Over several days, police did everything in their power to try and locate the dog, which they described as a bully breed, possibly a mastiff.

Early Thursday, police located the dog in the area of Tiffin Street and Patterson Road. Police said the dog became aggressive and was a safety threat, and an officer discharged their firearm, killing the animal.

The City of Barrie's bylaw department is now leading the investigation with assistance from Barrie Police.

As of Friday, the dog's owner had not been located.

Reflecting on the incident, Hillan said that without his intervention and that of others, the outcome might have had tragic consequences.

"I really do think that boy would have died. That dog was so strong and so hyper-focused on the boy. It seems like it was his target. I genuinely believe that dog was not raised right. It probably would have done it to someone else given the chance."