dog attack
A four-year-old boy in Salluit died after being attacked by four dogs while he was walking to his grandfather's home, Nunavik Police Service confirmed.

In response, more than 70 stray dogs have been captured and killed in the northern village since the Jan. 11 attack and the effort to round up stray dogs will continue, according to the village's treasurer.

In an interview, police Capt. Patrice Abel said the incident happened midday and that two of the dogs were known to the child and were not strays but had been left untied outside.

Officers were unable to determine whether the boy did something to provoke the dogs before they he was attacked, he said.

Abel said officers investigated and that the Crown prosecutor's office concluded there was no criminal intent or negligence on the part of the dogs' owners.

Northern Quebec coroner Geneviève Thériault told Nunatsiaq News the child was in cardiac arrest when he was brought to the Salluit Health Centre. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

The identity of the child and of the dogs' owners was not released.

Two days after the boy's death, Salluit village treasurer Adamie Saviadjuk posted on Facebook that the municipality would proceed with catching and killing all unleashed dogs.

He said a team armed with guns would carry out the work and asked people to remain indoors.

On Facebook, Saviadjuk said on Jan. 13 that 70 to 90 stray dogs were caught and "we will not stop terminating stray dogs."

Public safety related to stray dogs has been an issue in other northern communities.

In February 2023, Nunavik communities Kuujjuaraapik and Whapmagoostui both implemented dog registration rules.

And in March 2023, a four-year-old girl from Igloolik had to be flown south from Nunavut to undergo multiple surgeries after being seriously injured in a dog attack.