Dog may have been stuck in subway tracks for seven hours
Posted December 16, 2015 3:14 pm.
Last Updated December 16, 2015 9:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
New details in the tragic death of a dog stuck in subway tracks near Davisville station Tuesday afternoon show that the animal may have been stuck for up to seven hours and run over by dozens of subway trains before she was rescued.
Subway trains on Line 1 between Eglinton and Bloor stations were halted after a large German Shepherd named Katie was discovered stuck beneath the third rail just south of Davisville station.
Toronto Animal Service personnel managed to free to dog from the tracks and rushed the animal to a nearby veterinarian hospital. Unfortunately, the dog’s injuries were so severe that she had to be put down.
Bailey Scherbak, a resident who lives near the Davisville station, says she first spotted the dog near the tracks as early as 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
She said she tried to get the dog’s attention and to grab the dog, but she couldn’t reach her. She called the Toronto Humane Society, who referred her to Toronto Animal Services.
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Scherbak said she then went to the front desk office area, and told the attendant there that she saw a dog near the tracks. She said the attendant said he would try to find someone else to report it to.
Brad Ross, the head of corporate communications at the TTC, confirms that the company received a call at around 6:30 a.m. after someone spotted something that resembled a dog on the tracks.
Ross said a train operator also spotted an animal around the same time and reported it to TTC control. The operator believed the animal was a fox. Train operators often deal with foxes, coyotes, raccoons and squirrels on and near the tracks.
Ross said TTC staff members searched the yard area following the report, but were unable to find anything. There were no further sightings reported until the dog was spotted during a routine patrol at about 1:30 in the afternoon, when service was immediately shut down to rescue her.
Ross says if they had confirmation that the dog was on the tracks at any time, they would have shut down service immediately.
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