CHOPPER FINDS FANNY BAY GROW SHOW

Dogs guarding an alleged grow operation tangled with a police dog when
police raided the rural Fanny Bay property Sunday afternoon.

Police spotted signs of an illegal, outdoor "grow show" during a routine
patrol and descended in the police helicopter to chop the marijuana plants
down at about 2 p.m., Sunday.

The Mounties spotted two people fleeing in an all-terrain vehicle, and the
helicopter brought a police dog and handler to pursue them, according to
RCMP Const. Dean Maxwell.

The dog led police to a 23-year-old woman, and several dogs in the area,
including a pit bull, attacked the police dog, according to Maxwell.

Mounties pepper-sprayed the dogs.

During the altercation, the woman was bitten by one of the dogs, and an
ambulance was called. The woman was not seriously injured. Ambulance
attendants bandaged the wound, but did not take her to hospital, Maxwell said.

Police destroyed 250 marijuana plants and confiscated three all-terrain
vehicles plus some marijuana and equipment they found in a house on the
property.

The 23-year-old Parksville woman and a 24-year-old Courtenay man were
arrested, and police plan to ask the Crown to charge them with production
of a controlled substance and possession for purposes of trafficking.

Police did not release the suspects' names by press time.