Gorokan resident Renea Donaldson and her eight-year-old daughter watched on in horror as their pet dog Yogi was mauled by two stray dogs — believed to be American staffordshire bull terriers — in the family’s garage.
“It looked like a murder scene,” said Mrs Donaldson of the attack, which left the Rottweiler Rhodesian Ridgeback mix in the vet hospital for days with scores of puncture wounds to his head and neck.
Mrs Donaldson had put the dog, which she described as “a big teddy bear who wouldn’t hurt anyone” in the backyard while she went to the shops for half an hour on Tuesday afternoon.
When she returned with her daughter she heard growling and cries coming from the garage.
“I had a gut feeling something was wrong, and when I opened the door to the garage — which Yogi can get into through a dog door — there was blood everywhere. It was just horrific — like a horror movie.”
Mrs Donaldson said the two dogs had broken their way into the backyard through a timber fence and chased her dog into the garage through a dog door.
By the time she had run to a neighbour for help, the attacking dogs had dragged Yogi on to a rock in the garden where they continued to maul him.
“They had blood all over their teeth. I was like a mother possessed so I screamed at them to get off and they ran out of the yard,” she said.
The dogs have not been seen since.
“I’m worried about other people’s dogs. What kind of people own these dogs to break in and attack another dog in its own home? They should be shot or put down. I can’t imagine what would have happened if my daughter had been in the backyard,” she said.
Vet Chris Jamieson of Kanwal Veterinary Hospital who operated on Yogi after the attack said he is lucky to be alive.
“A smaller dog or child would not have survived this attack,” he said. “ He was certainly very lucky and was in a very bad way when he came in and was totally exhausted.”
Mr Jamieson said while this hunting behaviour is typical of pack animals, such as dogs, it is not expected “in suburbia”.
“Dog owners need to keep their pets under control and teach them socialisation,” he said.
Wyong Shire Council Ranger Service Manager Rennes Projceski said council was trying to locate the offending dogs.
“We have searched the area around the attack. If found, they will need to be positively identified and we will need to locate the owners,” Ms Projceski said.
“We do take these matters seriously and our first priority is to find the dogs and return the animals to their owners,” she said.
She said if someone has seen the dogs to call Wyong Council.
(Daily Telegraph Australia - Nov 5, 2015)
If you have pit bulls in your society, this is what happens to livestock, pets, people and children. A little 9 year girl was just killed by one of these dogs.
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