Mijo, a 7-year old Pitbull, waits in the sidecar of his owner's motorcycle in Los Angeles
Mijo, a 7-year old Pitbull, waits in the sidecar of his owner's motorcycle in Los Angeles, California August 26, 2013. August 26 is National Dog Day in the U.S.. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

A pet bit bull dog attacked an infant girl in the Vancouver Island community of Saanich. It was the same day two pit bull dogs attacked an elderly man outside a Langley, B.C. dollar store.

The infant girl is less than three weeks old and now recovering from the injuries of the Sunday attack. The family pet dog, a 17-year-old pit bull-Rottweiler cross, was killed after it had mauled the girl. The family agreed to have the animal killed after the attack. The girl was taken to hospital where she was treated for injuries on her face. The injuries are, however, reported to be non-life threatening. National Post reports that according to speculations by police, the infant may require cosmetic surgery later on. According to Saanich police, the owner of the dog may face a charge of criminal negligence.

The condition of the elderly man, on the other hand, was not known. Nor was it reported what happened to the pit bull dogs which has attacked him. Robbie, the Langley Dollar Tree store manager, said that the dogs belonged to a customer. However, he said that he was not working when the incident took place. He is not even aware what exactly happened during the incident.

Victoria City Kennel Club President Barbara Watt found it appalling that someone considered crossbreeding a pit bull with a Rottweiler. "If you take a dog with the weight of a pit bull and particularly when you cross it with something like a Rottweiler, you have a very powerful animal," she said. "People who cross breeds like that probably have no idea what they are bringing into the world."

She also said that dogs should never be left alone with a child without supervision. Every dog is capable of biting, she said. According to Watt, dogs get jealous when a newborn baby gets all the attention of the family. People should be extra careful about how they introduce a dog to a child. While such attacks have renewed the debate over the practicality of keeping pit bulls as pets, Watt said that such breeds could be unpredictable due to the lack of established breeding patterns.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au