The attacking dogs have been surrendered to animal control and are expected to be destroyed today, and the owner of two of them said the dogs had been in trouble with the council before.
Dorothy Willis, 65, described her ordeal through her tears today.
''The police told me my dog probably saved my life ... I couldn't have saved him, I'd have been torn to pieces.''
Willis was in her motorised wheelchair taking her dog Buddy, a papillon, for his evening walk near her home when three dogs jumped a fence and attacked.
Screaming for help, Willis managed to scoop Buddy into her arms but was unable to stop him being killed.
One of the attacking dogs tore Buddy from her grasp, while the other two latched onto each of her hands, she said.
''One was shaking the hell out of Buddy ... I ended up on the ground but I don't know how I did it, they [the dogs] must have pulled me out of my chair.''
Neighbours heard Willis' screams while they were gardening, and came rushing across the road to help, she said.
Her neighbour hit the dogs with a garden hoe, but she couldn't remember much after that.
Willis suffered puncture wounds to her hands and leg, and was treated at Southland Hospital.
''I'm awfully thankful my wounds were minor,'' she said.
She was horrified that people could not safely walk their dogs in her neighbourhood.
Devastated that she no longer has her little dog, Willis said she would hesitate before owning one again.
''I don't know how I'll live without a wee dog, but I don't know how I could live with one [now] ... I'd be too bloody frightened to walk him.''
She said she did not understand how young children survived such horrific attacks.
''What can we do to stop this, why does this keep happening.''
Willis suffers from complex regional pain syndrome, a condition that has resulted in the partial amputation of one of her legs and left her with limited use of the other leg and her right arm.
Buddy had been instrumental in helping her manage her condition, she said.
''He always knew when I was in pain, he was a very cuddly wee dog and would sit on my shoulder ... He was irreplaceable''
Her daughter, Sheryl Willis, of Auckland, said a neighbour heard her mother screaming and ran out to help, beating the dogs with a stick.
"It makes me angry that this has happened," she said.
She says her mother told her "I don't know if I will recover from this".
Sheryl Willis would fly to Invercargill tomorrow to be with her parents.
Tom Hollands, who owns two of the dogs involved in the attack – a staffordshire cross and a shar pei cross – said he was ashamed of what his dogs had done.
He was visiting the property and let the dogs out to go to the toilet before going back inside.
He heard screaming and rushed out to see what had happened.
His dogs had been in trouble with the council before for wandering, Hollands said.
The owner of the other dog, an american pit bull, said he was gutted by his dog's behaviour.
''It kills me that this happened. I came inside and rang [animal control] and told them they needed to come and get my dog,'' he said.
He had never had any problems with his dog, which was neutered, he said.
While Willis knew there was at least one dog at the property, she had never had an encounter with them.
''I'd sometimes hear them barking, or hear the owners calling them, so I would avoid the property,'' she said.
Southland District Council chief executive Steve Ruru said the dogs were impounded, and had been surrendered by the owners.
The dogs would be destroyed today, and council animal control officers were investigating.
When investigations were completed, there was a possibility the owners could be prosecuted, Ruru said.
Council environmental health manager Michael Sarfaiti said a decision on whether to prosecute could be made by early next week.
Hollands was known to the council because previous action had been taken to disqualify him as a dog owner, Ruru said.
However, Hollands had appealed that decision, and the case was scheduled to be heard by the council on October 29.
(Stuff.co.nz - Oct 15, 2014)
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