A dog attack that killed a cat and injured a woman but did not result in criminal charges has reached the bureacracy at Saint John city hall — and it could mean the dogs will be put down.

Becky Smith was walking July 27 along a Saint John beach near the Digby Ferry Landing while carrying her cat, Mitsy. Two pitbulls, who were not on leashes, killed the cat. Smith was knocked down, bloodied, and sent to the hospital by ambulance.

The Saint John Police Force did not lay any charges, saying that no laws had been broken. Dog owners are only charged when they intend for attacks to happen. When they don't, they are treated as accidents.

Amy Poffenroth is the deputy commissioner of buildings and inspection services, the department that enforces the city's animal control bylaw. She is not allowed to speak about specific cases, but said generally that a dog owner can't have his or her animal running off-leash on somebody else's property.

"If there has been a dog bite or an attempted bite, the bylaw allows for the enforcement officer to make an application to provincial court to…request that an order be issued to the owner of that dog," she said.

Poffenroth said the order could be for the dog to be destroyed, or controlled in some manner.