John Williams said his family's Anzac Rd home was "like a slaughter-house" after large areas of it were covered in blood and dog feces as he stabbed the pit bull eight times in a bid to drive it away.
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| Kim is praised by John Williams. The family pet showed her bravery when the family's home was invaded by a pit bull terrier. Photo / Ron Burgin |
About 1pm on Saturday when Mr Williams, his wife, Stacey Waipouri, her 5-year-old daughter Bella-Rose Waipouri-Globbits, and the couple's 8-month daughter Alaska-Dawn Williams-Waipouri were having lunch.
The pit bull slipped under the fence around their house and attacked the family's 9-year-old Huntaway* Kim in the porch outside the open door to the kitchen.
The Huntaway retreated into the kitchen, but once she realised the baby was on the floor she returned to the doorway and the pit bull's jaws.
Kim erupted with loud, agonised howls as she was bitten and Mr Williams grabbed "the biggest knife you've ever seen" to stab the pit bull eight times.
"Blood was going everywhere, but it never yelped and it never flinched.
It just kept going and going for my dog," he said.
In the midst of this frenzied battle, young Bella-Rose ran to pluck Alaska-Dawn from the floor and carried her to safety in a bedroom, shutting the door.
"I was frightened, but when I saw Alaska near the blood, that's when I knew I had to take her away," Bella-Rose said later.
The pit bull dragged Kim from the kitchen and porch to a deck in front of the house.
Ms Waipouri got a bite when she tried to help Mr Williams separate the animals.
The noise had one neighbour yelling for the couple to stop fighting.
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| Five-year-old Bella-Rose and baby Alaska-Dawn photographed with family pet Kim. Photo / John Stone |
But a man visiting his wife's parents nearby came to see what the trouble was and gave the pit bull two cracks on the head with a heavy piece of timber.
He then kept a foot on the dog's head until police and an SPCA officer arrived.
The man's wife, who asked for the pair not to be named, said one of the two policemen who came described the blood-stained house as "a murder scene".
Mr Williams said the pit bull still had fight in it, despite all its injuries.
"I have never before seen an animal so determined to kill," he said.
SPCA duty officer Sunel Ferreira took both dogs away for examination by a veterinarian. The pit bull was put down because of its wounds and the huntaway was returned to the family after treatment for bruising and bites.
Ms Ferreira said the pit bull had no collar or other means of identification.
Mr Williams said he had needed 11 stitches in his hand when he received a bite from the pit bull when it attacked him while he was walking Kim about six months ago.
He didn't know who owned that pit bull.
He wanted them reported for having a dangerous animal.
"There's no place in our society for pit bulls," Mr Williams said. "If that dog had got hold of our baby she would be dead."
(The Northern Advocate - May 23, 2011)
* New Zealand Huntaway, New Zealand Header. There are more sheep per head of human population in New Zealand than in any other country on earth, about 45 million sheep. To have that many sheep requires a special type of dog to control them, such as the New Zealand Header and New Zealand Huntaway. The Huntaways tend to bark and chase the sheep away, the Headers bring the sheep back. They're called headers because they will go to the head of the sheep and turn them.
These New Zealand breeds were developed over the last 100 years by cross-breeding the Border Collie with other breeds including the Irish Setter, English Hound, Old English Sheepdog and Labrador. Dogs found on New Zealand stations today are considered purebreds by farmers. - Burke's Backyard website
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