NEW ZEALAND -- A Christchurch woman who routinely carried a protective stick when walking her dog never expected a dog attack so savage it would land her in hospital.
Rachel, who did not want her surname used, was walking her huntaway dog in Aranui last Wednesday night.
She was only five minutes from home when she passed a property with two pit bulls tied up outside; one tied on a chain, the other roped to a car.
The dogs had prompted calls to dog control from herself and other residents in the past over concerns they were not securely restrained.
"I walked past the property as I always do, and they usually both nut off ... but as I stepped on to the road I heard a noise,'' she said.
"I turned around and this thing was just flying at us."
The pit bull latched on to the back of her dog and was "ripping him to bits".
Rachel was dragged to the ground in the attack, trying to force the dog away when it turned on her.
"I always carry a stick because there are a lot of dogs in that area, so I was hitting it with my stick. But this dog was just vicious; he was in for the kill," she said.
The dog scraped her face, ripped both sides of her lower lip, slashed her right hand, fractured a finger and left her "covered in blood".
An elderly woman passing by with her husband came to her aid, restraining the dog, while another passer-by managed to tear it away and force it back into its owner's yard.
After being treated by ambulance staff at the scene, Rachel was taken to hospital over fears she required surgery to her face.
Instead, she believed she and her dog both "got off lightly".
Rachel was X-rayed, received stitches to her lip and sent home.
Her dog is "covered in puncture wounds" and was slowly recovering at home after a 2am emergency operation.
The pit bull has been impounded by animal control.
Rachel said she would never walk her dog in the same area again.
"I'm quite frightened now. I don't see myself going back there,'' she said.
(Fairfax NZ News - July 23, 2013)
