CANADA -- A Calgary man ran to the rescue after two huskies savaged a five-year-old girl in a "horrific attack" at a school in the Silver Springs neighbourhood on Sunday.
"It looked like they were playing with a large rag doll and when I got closer -- they were pulling her apart," Bob Tomlison said.
"It was horrific.
"I jumped the fence and took a few steps and when I got a few feet away, that's when the husky let go of the child and came at me."
Tomlinson was driving through the neighbourhood hunting for garage sales when he saw the little girl being bitten.
He grabbed the dog and pinned it to the ground, suffering minor bites on the hand.
"There was blood all over her neck," he said.
He was able to hold the dog until police arrived and bylaw officers managed to track down the other husky nearby.
The girl, who QMI Agency has chosen not to name, and her nine-year-old brother had headed across the street from their home to play in the field at Silver Springs School just before noon when the dogs attacked.
"(Her brother) came running back in five minutes later," stepdad Jim Cornell said.
"I saw him come running up the stairs and knew something was wrong."
Cornell ran across the street and found the girl being attacked by both huskies.
"The dog had her by the neck and shoulder area," he said. "The other dog took off and the dog that was attacking her -- when it saw us, it tried to drag her away."
The girl was rushed to hospital suffering cuts and puncture wounds and underwent surgery for her injuries Sunday afternoon, Cornell said.
The dogs will be medically quarantined for 10 days, bylaw head Bill Bruce said, then they will be given a behaviour assessment.
"At this point we don't know if they have rabies vaccines," he said.
Bylaw officers were working to find the dog's owner, Bruce said, and they could face stiff fines for allowing the dogs to bite someone and being at large, which could run over $1,000.
"It depends on the severity of the bite," he said. "With bites, we always charge to the max."
That wasn't the only animal attack in the city Sunday.
Another person suffered minor injuries when they were bitten by a Weimaraner running off leash, also in the northwest, said Bruce.
(Tillsonburg News - June 10, 2012)
