'They gotta go,' man who needed 5 stitches says after series of Rottweiler attacks in Johnstons River

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and disturbing images.

Aggressive dogs roaming at large around Johnstons River, P.E.I., have some people living in the community concerned for their safety.

Residents said two Rottweilers have attacked people on multiple occasions, resulting in stitches, and they want the dogs removed from the unincorporated area northeast of the Town of Stratford in central P.E.I. 

Hunter Hamilton is one of those who needed medical attention. 

"I had a Canada Goose jacket at the time, so I think that kind of saved me," he said, showing the stitches and bruising where one of the dogs bit down on his lower arm through his thick down-filled parka.

He had been out for a walk with his own dog Jasper on the morning of Christmas Eve when he said the two Rottweilers attacked him and his pet.

Hamilton yelled for help and grabbed a log from a neighbour's woodpile, hitting one of the attacking dogs over the head. Eventually, someone came out of a nearby house and called the Rottweilers to him. 

"At the time I didn't feel the bite at all. It wasn't until — I guess when I got back to the house and told of the extent of what happened, that I took off my coat and it was covered in blood, and that's when we had to go to the emerge and I had to get five stitches," Hamilton said. 

Jasper ended up needing nine stitches on his face and back. 

"He was definitely traumatized," Hamilton said of his pet. Afterward, he said Jasper didn't want to leave the house, but he is now improving daily.  

Hamilton's parents drove him to the hospital to get the stitches. On the way, his father stopped at the house where the Rottweilers had gone to talk to their owner, briefly describing what had happened. They returned several times to follow up, but said nobody answered the door. 

The family called the RCMP and the P.E.I. Humane Society, but said not enough is being done. The dogs are still in the neighbourhood, roaming off-leash.

"It's not safe, and somebody's going to get seriously hurt," said Miles Welsh, a neighbour who has also had a couple of run-ins with the Rottweilers. 

Two weeks ago, he said, the dogs jumped on his dog Max. Welsh said they let Max go when he yelled at them but remained on his property until the owner called them back.