Crown counsel has declined to approve criminal charges against any North Vancouver Mounties in connection with an attack by a police dog.

A "clear statement" issued by the criminal justice branch states that the Crown "would not be able to prove that the force was excessive and therefore unlawful".

The incident on December 13 occurred after a fraud suspect fled on foot from the Scotiabank branch on Lonsdale Avenue.

With the help of a police dog, RCMP officers found him hiding in front of an apartment building.

"Due to the location of the suspect concealed under a thick bush, police had some difficulty separating the dog and the suspect," the statement declares. "It is unclear precisely how long it took to secure the suspect, who was struggling against both the dog and the officers who were attempting to handcuff him, as estimates range from 10 seconds to several minutes."

After he was in custody, the Mounties noticed that he was bleeding heavily from his upper right thigh area.

"Although the suspect believes that the dog lunged at him and bit him repeatedly, the bulk of the available evidence supports a conclusion that the dog bit him once in the upper leg area and held on," the statement notes. "The suspect suffered a significant tearing injury, but did not appear to have multiple punctures."

It adds that RCMP dog handlers rely on a 20-foot leash, and the evidence doesn't indicate that what happened was "outside of normal RCMP training and standards for competent dog handling".

"Notwithstanding the significant injury to the suspect, the evidence is not capable of establishing that deploying the dog constituted an unreasonable and excessive use of force in this incident," concludes the criminal justice branch.

The dog handler and the suspect were not identified in the statement.

It reveals that the Independent Investigations Office forwarded a report to Crown counsel about the incident. The IIO's chief civilian director, Richard Rosenthal, did not make any recommendations concerning criminal charges.