AUSTRALIA -- Sutherland Shire Council rangers are looking for the owner of two rottweilers that attacked a Caringbah man, 75, at Glenn McGrath Oval, Caringbah, on Tuesday.
One of the rottweilers, which were not on leashes, mauled John Fischer’s arm as he walked his border collie on the oval, off Willarong Road, at about 5.30am.
‘‘The dog was on him for about a minute and the owner pulled the dog off,’’ Mr Fisher’s daughter, Helen, said.
He suffered blood loss from severe arm lacerations and a loss of feeling in three fingers from the attack.
Ms Fischer said the dogs’ owner told her father he lived around the corner and would take the dogs home and call for help, but did not return.
Mr Fisher sat on steps for 10 minutes before he walked back to his Caringbah Road house with his dog after realising the man was not returning.
‘‘I’m more frustrated that the guy just left him there and didn’t bother to call anyone,’’ Ms Fischer said.
The dog owner is described as a man aged in his 60s who spoke with an English accent.
Mr Fisher had a second round of surgery on Tuesday at Sydney Hospital’s hand unit, where he is expected to remain until the end of the week.
The council rangers are patrolling the area and doorknocking to find the rottweilers.
They went to a Willarong Road house where two rottweilers live but a council spokeswoman said they did not match the description of the dogs.
‘‘The council does not believe they are the animals responsible for the attack,’’ the spokeswoman said.
The shire has the second largest dog population in NSW.
The council is responsible for dog attack investigations because of a memorandum of understanding signed with Miranda and Sutherland police commands in August 2007.
All investigations are carried out with the support of police.
Anyone with information about the dogs or their owner is urged to contact the council or police. Details: Sutherland Shire Council, 97100333, or Crime Stoppers, 1800333 000.
(Leader - June 23, 2011)
