Photo: Oak + Cru

The dog attack occurred to the left of the bar, in the hotels's lobby

A disturbing dog attack inside the lobby of the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort Wednesday night caused “total pandemonium” and left witnesses feeling upset.

Patrons of Oak + Cru, the hotel's restaurant in the lobby, were sitting at the bar at about 9:30 p.m., while their large dog lay on the ground, leashed to their chair. 

While dogs are not allowed in the restaurant, Lana Uytterhagen, director of sales and marketing at the hotel says the hotel's lobby is dog-friendly, and bar patrons occasionally have their animals sit beside the bar, just out of the restaurant area.

“Some guests were checking in and they had a little dog and it jumped out of the car and ran into the hotel and there was another dog sleeping beside the bar,” Uytterhagen said. “The little dog startled the big dog, and the big dog attacked the little dog.

“It caused quite a disturbance.”

A woman who witnessed the attack said she was surprised to see the large dog, which she says was a pit bull, inside the lobby, especially after it had showed aggression to a different dog prior to the attack.

“A couple were walking their dog through the lobby ... and then the pit bull goes crazy,” she said. “We were waiting for someone to come and say, 'you can't have your dog here,' but no one said anything to these people.”

Just 30 minutes later, the attack occurred.

“There was total pandemonium,” the witness said. “One of the staff members actually had to go and get the pit bull off this small dog. The owners of the small white dog were screaming. The people who owned the pit bull were telling the dog to let go, but it wasn't letting go.

“People were screaming, people were up out of their seats, there was total chaos.”

Uytterhagen says the large dog and its owner were removed from the hotel, and the small dog was taken to the vet the following day.

“It did have to get taken in today to get looked over and from what I understand, it's doing OK,” she said.

While Uytterhagen says the hotel would be reviewing their policies following the attack, she considers it a “one-off incident.”

“This is the first problem that we've had that I'm aware of in a number of years,” she said. “We've been pet friendly for quite a few years, and usually owners are very cognizant and aware of their animals so it's certainly a one-off incident.”

The attack comes on the heels of a tragic dog attack that killed an autistic child's support dog.