Natalie Cardinal was waiting to pick her son, Riley, up from the school last week when her dog, Isla, was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier.
Tim Pascoe was waiting to pick up his children from the school when her saw the dog attack. Mr Pascoe ran more than 50 metres to grab the attacking dog and prise open its jaws, which were locked around the neck of the little dog.
 |
| Tim Pascoe (centre) has been hailed a hero after rescuing Scottish terrier Isla from the jaws of another dog ... he is pictured with Isla’s owners Riley, Oscar and Marley. Picture: Calum Robertson. |
Mrs Cardinal said she was holding her eight-month-old son, Oscar, and had four-year-old son, Marley, in a pram, when the dog leapt from the window of a parked car and raced towards Isla.
“We were standing at the school gates and Isla went to have a drink of water from a puddle,” Mrs Cardinal said.
“The other dog did not even make a sound, it jumped out of the car window and was on her neck.”
She said the dog grabbed Isla by the throat, severing an artery in her neck. The blood was squirting everywhere, I couldn't do anything, I tried pushing the dog away,” Mrs Cardinal, of Port Willunga, said.
“Two people rushed to me and came to my aid and wedged the other dog’s jaw open to get it off. Isla dropped to the ground in a puddle of dark blood, I thought she was gone.”
Mrs Cardinal said she grabbed a plastic bag from her pocket and wrapped it around Isla’s throat to stop the bleeding.
A parent drove her to a vet in Aldinga, where Isla was operated on for about two and a half hours.
“He managed to get her through that, but we thought she would die of shock overnight, she didn't and we brought her home two days later,” she said.
Mrs Cardinal was critical of the owner of the Staffordshire bull terrier, saying he did “too little too late”.
 |
| HERO: Tim Pacsoe gets a heartfelt lick from Isla with a grateful Natalie Cardinal looking on at her Port Willunga home. Picture: Calum Robertson |
“I did not know any of the people that helped me,” she said.
“The guy who pulled the dog’s jaw apart had all scratch and teeth marks all over his hand. The school community got her through, if they weren’t there she would not have survived.”
She said she understood there was no destruction order placed on the other dog and the owner would be fined.
“I am not asking for him to lose his family pet, but it should be muzzled when it is out in public, even when it is in his car he should have it under control.”
(Adelaide Now - June 27, 2014)
