Michelle van der Walt said her hand was mauled as she fought like "a mad woman" to rescue her cocker spaniel Coco, which barely survived the ordeal on Monday last week.
But despite the terrifying experience, the city council has refused to remove the offending animals, telling Ms van der Walt it was not considered a "serious enough" offence.
 |
| Currumbin resident Michelle van der Walt was injured trying to stop two staffordshire bull terriers from attacking her cocker spaniel Coco last week. Coco barely escaped alive and required veterinary treatment (inset). Main pic: Brendan Radke. |
Ms van der Walt said the council needed to enforce harsher penalties on owners who failed to restrain savage dogs.
She said the council officer who interviewed her said the dogs would only be destroyed if they caused a human serious injury, or killed another animal.
"My dog received 30 puncture wounds and if one of those bites had gone an eighth of an inch further, she would be dead.
"I fought like crazy to save Coco and if it weren't for a neighbour who came to our aid, I know my injuries would have been a lot worse ... But council said there was nothing they could do and returned the dogs to the owner ... despite repairs to his fence still being incomplete."
A council spokeswoman said both dogs were impounded after the incident and the owner was required to pay to register both dogs, which were unregistered, and all impoundment fees.
She said the owner may be subject to more fines after an investigation into the incident was finished.
"First response is to send animal management officers to the location of an incident, impound alleged offending dogs, speak to complainant, dog owner and any witnesses, this will then be assessed and investigated," she said.
"This particular incident occurred on May 20 and was responded to. The dogs in question were allowed to return home after it was established the enclosure was adequate to contain the dogs."
There are 60,000 registered dogs on the Coast and the council receives an average of 400 complaints about attacks annually.
Dog owners risk a $75 on-the-spot fine if their dog is not contained in a yard, or is unrestrained when on a walk.
(Gold Coast Bulletin News - May 31, 2013)
