AUSTRALIA -- A man is pleading with dog owners to take better responsibility for their pets after a savage dog attack left him with a sliced artery in his right hand.
Mick Ole, of Avenell Heights, was taking his beloved maltese-shih tzu cross dog, Henry, for their usual afternoon walk on Wednesday, along an easement next to cane fields, when a small dog ran around the corner towards them.
Mick Ole, of Avenell Heights, was taking his beloved maltese-shih tzu cross dog, Henry, for their usual afternoon walk on Wednesday, along an easement next to cane fields, when a small dog ran around the corner towards them.
"I didn't want Henry to go stupid, so I picked him up," he said.
As the 74-year-old picked up his pet, a second, much bigger dog also came running with his eyes firmly fixed on Henry.
"I turned to save (Henry) and the second dog grabbed me," he said.
"Just as well he got me, because he would have killed Henry then and there."
Mr Ole said both dogs were wearing a collar and lead, but the owner had not been holding on to them.
"(The owner) probably didn't think there'd be anyone there," he said.
"She said, 'sorry', but I said, 'don't you realise you should hold on to your lead at all times?'"
The dog bit through his right hand to the artery, and he was left with several other puncture wounds that required urgent medical treatment at Bundaberg Hospital.
"It took the doctor a while to stop the bleeding," he said.
Apart from the apology, Mr Ole said the other dog's owner did not even come to his aid.
"We had to come all the way back down the easement," he said.
"It was hurting like hell."
Mr Ole said if it had been a child in the dog's path, the situation could have had terrifying consequences.
"If it had gotten hold of a child, it would have been horrific," he said.
He said the attack could have easily been prevented.
"Keep your dog on a lead and hold on to it," he said.
Mr Ole and his wife, Kay, only moved to Bundaberg from Gladstone in May last year and say they had never seen the two dogs before, and were looking to make a complaint to Bundaberg Regional Council.
Council health and environment spokeswoman Mary Wilkinson said it was the owner's responsibility to ensure the dogs were properly restrained if they were not on private property.
"If you have an animal, it must be under your control," she said.
Cr Wilkinson said aside from several council-approved off-leash areas, everywhere else required dogs to be on a lead.
"In this case, the dogs had their leads on but they were taking their leads for a walk," she said.
Cr Wilkinson said the matter could not be investigated until an official complaint was made.
(News Mail - Jan 28, 2012)