Woman left bleeding on the street after dog attack

NEW ZEALAND -- Feilding's animal control is calling for  help to find a vicious dog  that attacked a 79-year-old woman and her left her bleeding in the street.

After assisting to release Judith Bird's forearm from the dog's jaw, the man accompanying the attacking canine simply said "sorry" and disappeared, leaving her bleeding heavily near a dairy on Denbigh Street about 1pm on Saturday, December 11.

Bird, who will celebrate her 80th birthday in January, said she was on her way to the supermarket  when the dog attacked her from behind.

"I didn't even see it coming. I just felt it hit me [around her right upper thigh] and then the dog dug its teeth straight into my arm...it just went 'chomp'."

Bird said the dog was fairly big and orange in colour, while she described the owner as Maori, in his late 20s or early 30s.

"By the time I turned around, he was gone."

Bird returned home and bathed the wound on her own.

"The blood was pouring out," Bird said.

She said the dog was not on a leash at the time she was attacked.

Not wanting to cause a fuss, Bird did not seek medical attention following the incident, but was convinced by Manawatu District Council animal control officer Lesley Butler and a friend to see a doctor on Monday afternoon.

She was required to get a tetanus shot.

Butler said the organisation was "horrified" to hear of the attack.

"We want to find who this person and dog are as soon as possible," she said. "The person seemed to be quite happy to leave this lady bleeding on the street and run away. Who does that?"

Bird said she does not mind dogs, and once owned a corgi. However, since the attack, she has been much more wary, and has crossed the street to avoid dogs while out walking.

Reactions such as these post-attack were common, Butler said.

"It's not just the physical injury, it's the after effects, and people do become afraid [of dogs]."

Butler said she would like anyone who may know anything about the attack, dog, or owner to contact animal control.

"It is about protecting others now."

Firstly, they would encourage the owner to approve voluntary euthanasia for the dog, Butler said.

If that failed, a request would be made to the courts to legally euthanize the dog after the necessary evidence was gathered.

"We don't want aggressive dogs on our streets. Our job here is to protect the public," Butler said.

(Stuff NZ - Dec 18, 2015)