NEW ZEALAND -- A 61-year-old Tauranga man, who confronted an aggressive dog trying to get onto a school bus in Windermere is in a stable condition in a ward in Tauranga Hospital with serious leg injuries after the dog attacked him.
The pit bull/bull terrier cross was attempting to get onto the Bayline Coach full of school children around 8.30am on Monday when the bus supervisor stepped in and was bitten by the dog.
He suffered puncture wounds to his right lower leg was taken to Tauranga Hospital where he underwent surgery this morning.
Tauranga City Council animal control services were called to the attack and the dog is now at the pound.
Bayline Coaches manager Jeanette Proctor says this is the second time a dog has approached the bus in this area.
“The employee received quite a significant bite to his right lower leg. He had surgery in hospital this morning.”
The bus was picking up students at the corner of Poike Road and Winderemere Drive when the dog approached the bus and attempted to get on with the school children.
The bus driver phoned his supervisor for help, who then arrived and attempted to lead the dog away from the bus when he was bitten.
Council Animal Services team leader Brent Lincoln says the dog was a pit bull/bull terrier cross.
“Our Animal Services team attended the incident as soon as it was reported to us.
“We have the dog in the pound and have located and contacted the dog’s owner.”
Brent says they are now in the process of taking statements from witnesses and the dog’s owner and will make a decision on what happens to the dog based on those statements.
“At this stage we can’t advise on the outcome.”
“There’s only three conditions where we can put it down, one is where the owner surrenders the dog to us, the other is where we can prosecute and the court makes a destruction order, and thirdly if nobody claims a dog and after seven days the dog can be put down.
The only time they are empowered to act is if they are present at the time of the attack and for the purposes of stopping the attack. Once it’s in the pound, the council is bound by the Dog Control Act.
Brett is in contact with a person in relation to the dog. He would not say if it was a registered dog.
A witness, who did not wish to be named, also says the dog managed to get onto the bus a couple of weeks ago.
He says it jumped on the bus when the driver opened the door to let the children on.
“It got quite aggressive, it didn’t bite anybody.
“Anyway, they managed to get some food and calm it down and get it off the bus. He was down at the bus stop to pick up the children and hello there’s the dog there again.
“This time the bus driver didn’t open the door. But the dog did jump into a lady’s car with some of the children who were waiting at the bus stop.”
According to the witness, the woman got the children out of the car and locked the dog in the car until animal control arrived.
Jeanette says Bayline is in contact with council animal services and says they are being proactive in dealing with the attack.
“They’ve certainly been quite responsive. Animal services are following it through.
“We will certainly be following it through with our processes to see if there is something we need to implement or look at to ensure the safety of our drivers and children.”
Jeanette believes the attack came out of “extraordinary circumstances and I don’t think we are confronted with this on a regular basis.
“We are certainly taking it quite seriously.”
(Sun Live - August 21, 2012)
