‘‘I looked down at my feet and my socks and shoes were just saturated with blood,’’ the 14-year-old from Pelaw Main recalled yesterday from her hospital bed.
‘‘I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared, so terrified. They just knocked me to the ground and started tearing at both my legs.’’
Josie, a student at Kurri Kurri High, had surgery in Maitland Hospital yesterday to stitch several large puncture wounds.
Her father, Michael, was thankful her injuries were not much worse.
Mr Murray said his daughter managed to get to her feet as one of the dogs appeared to be moving towards her face.
‘‘We heard her screaming out the front, she was in a lot of pain,’’ he said. ‘‘It could have been a lot worse, though, had they got a hold of her face.’’
The attack happened as Josie walked from her school bus stop to her Pelaw Main home just after 4 o’clock on Monday afternoon.
She said the dogs came from a neighbour’s property.
A Cessnock City Council ranger called to the house confiscated both dogs. Their owner was fined $1100 and both dogs have been destroyed.
Mr Murray said he was pleased with the council’s quick response and praised the ranger for resolving the issue promptly.
NSW Department of Local Government figures show a 17per cent increase in reported dog attacks statewide in 2010-2011. There were more than 5,000 dog attacks that year, causing 1,414 injuries; 707 dogs were destroyed.
Cattle dogs were in the top three breeds said to be responsible for the attacks.
The others were Staffordshire bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers.
Josie will be battling emotional as well as physical scars from her ordeal.
The self-confessed dog-lover, who has enjoyed helping her dad with his greyhounds, has asked her mother to pick her up from the bus stop, a one-block walk from home, each day after school.
(Newcastle Herald - March 21, 2012)
