No criminal charges are going to be laid by police in connection with a three-year-old boy mauled by a family dog in a Chilliwack home Monday night.

However, a city bylaw does allow the city to take steps to ensure public safety, Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz said Thursday.

"The city does have the right under our bylaw to declare a dog aggressive," she said, and if that declaration is made, the owner must keep the dog inside the home or in an enclosure, and ensure it is muzzled and on a leash when off the property.

If the dog is deemed dangerous, the city could take it a step further and ask the court for a warrant to seize and destroy it, she said.

City staff said both co-owners of the dog involved in the Monday incident are being "very cooperative" and have confirmed the Neapolitan Mastiff is now in Washington State undergoing a "thorough" assessment.

"We are investigating this issue," said Lisa Thompson, the city's technical services manager, to ensure the dog will not pose a danger to the public.

But Kim Demeter, the mother of the three-year-old, said she's outraged the dog hasn't been seized already and put down by authorities.

"How can a dog do this to a child and not be destroyed," she said. "I want justice. I want the dog destroyed and evidence it's been put to sleep. I don't want this dog triggered and attacking another person at any moment.

The attack took place during a visit to her sister's home on Bonny Avenue at about 8:30 p.m.

"My son was just standing there sucking a Freezie when it attacked," Demeter said. "Out of nowhere it lunged and grabbed my son's head in its mouth."

"I literally had to pull the dog off my son's face," she said.

Austin was taken to Abbotsford Hospital where he needed two and a half hours of surgery and more than 100 stitches to close gashes in his face.

Bowen said the RCMP wishes the three-year-old "a speedy recovery" and reminded parents with young children that if they are concerned about an animal in a home they're visiting, to request the animal(s) be securely placed in another room or a kennel.

rfreeman@theprogress.com