Doctors spent hours yesterday trying to save David Cooper's thumb after he sustained serious hand and body wounds while rescuing his son Jai from a neighbour's dog that jumped a fence from its yard and latched on to his arm on Wednesday afternoon.
Jai, who is being treated in Princess Margaret Hospital for arm injuries, was riding his scooter on the driveway of their Wooltana Street home when he said his dad yelled "dog" and he turned to see the animal "bolting" at him.
As Jai struggled to free his arm from the dog's jaws, Mr Cooper jumped on the animal and tried to drag it off. Stepmother Larissa Miller helped, while also shielding 22-month-old son Aiden.
Ms Miller said when the dog finally let go, she yelled at Jai to run to safety.
"Then the dog has just gone (at) my partner and David was screaming," she said. "That scream, I cannot get out of my head.
"All I saw was David drop to the floor and this dog was on him."
Hysterical, she banged on the door of the dog owner's house but received no answer and went to another neighbour for help.
Jai had run to a nearby friend's home to call an ambulance and also stopped passing motorists.
Neighbour Alain Morrison, 19, said he heard screaming and yelling and ran out to find Mr Cooper covered in blood with the dog clamped on to his hand.
"The adrenaline kicked in, I didn't know what to do but I picked up a brick and rushed the dog," he said.
A plumber also jumped out of his van with a shovel and tried to stop the attack. The dog let go of Mr Cooper but then chased the two men, forcing them to run to safety.
Ms Miller said she was grateful to all the people who helped them.
Rangers seized the dog, which the City of South Perth suspects is a type of American bulldog, though the owners registered it as a Staffordshire bull terrier cross.
Ms Miller said her family had lived at the house for seven months and though the dog often barked and lunged at the fence she never thought it would get out and attack.
She now wants it destroyed.
"I'm not against the breed of dog, I think it's the way it's been raised," she said.
"It's confined to a yard and never gets walked." Mr Morrison said he had spoken to the dog's owners in the past about inadequate fencing.
"It shouldn't have ended that way," he said.
The dog's owner is believed to be overseas.
Friends staying at the house were looking after the animal.
The owner could not be reached yesterday. South Perth chief executive Cliff Frewing said the council and police were investigating the attack.
Under the WA Dog Act, owners of a dog that chases or attacks a person or animal can be prosecuted and if found liable, can face a $10,000 fine and the dog may be destroyed.
(West Australian - August 2, 2013)
