Guide dog dragged from SkyTrain suffered 'serious injuries'
Passengers on the platform jumped into the track to rescue the dog
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A blind woman’s guide dog who was seriously injured after being dragged by the SkyTrain will recover but likely will not be able to work with the blind again, a TransLink spokesman said on Sunday.
Ken Hardie said the incident happened around 10:30 a.m. Thursday when the SkyTrain stopped at the Lougheed Station platform and for some unknown reason the dog disembarked the train while the woman did not.
Riders watched in horror as the door closed and the dog started running along the platform to keep up with the train before she fell and was dragged along the platform.
“It was terribly traumatic,” said Hardie. “The poor dog was pulled off the platform and onto the track. In the process the dog struck a post.”
The leash was thin, he said, and it snapped just as the train left the station.
Hardie said there are automatic sensors that cause the train to stop if someone or something is on the tracks at the station but because the dog didn’t hit the tracks until just beyond the platform, they didn’t go off.
People immediately called SkyTrain security and the train was stopped, said Hardie, adding that concerned citizens then jumped onto the tracks to fetch the badly injured dog.
They heaved the dog off the tracks and sat comforting her while they waited for help to arrive.
The dog’s owner got off at the next stop and was helped home by SkyTrain employees. Staff also took the dog to the veterinarian.
Hardie said the dog suffered a broken nose among other “serious injuries” but said he is expected to survive.
“It may not work again as a guide dog but we don’t know if that’s due to its actions of leaving the train too early or because of the injuries.”
The woman has filed an incident report, but Hardie could not say whether she was seeking compensation from TransLink.
He said a full review will be conducted, which may include an additional investigation with a provincial safety regulator to see whether the system worked properly.
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