Australia: Owners of pit bull mixes which have attacked two girls, tried to keep them hidden from police

AUSTRALIA -- Two Staffordshire pit bull mix dogs have been seized from a Perth home after a vicious attack on a young girl, and it appears it's not the first time the canines have attacked a person.

The nine-year-old girl suffered serious injuries to her head, face, legs and buttocks when the two dogs set upon her at Success Hill Reserve in Bassendean on Friday afternoon.

The girl was with her three brothers at the time when a woman walked past them with her two dogs, both of them off their leashes.

Nine News reported the woman said: " If you see my dogs coming make sure you stand up."

The group said they were confused as to what she meant at the time.

 

Minutes later the two dogs pinned the girl to the ground.

The wounds at the back of her head and neck show they were trying to kill her.

The nine-year-old girl was saved by her 16-year-old brother, who pulled the dogs away, held her above his head and eventually carried her home.

Late on Monday rangers swooped on a home situated less than a kilometer away from the park where the girl was viciously attacked, as a result of an investigation by Nine News Perth.

The dogs were taken by the RSPCA where they remain until a decision on their fate is made.

The parents of the little girl told Nine News that the owner of the dogs – Michelle Giblet – told their daughter to stop screaming and stay still during the attack. They said she did nothing to help during the horrifying ordeal.

Despite wide media attention and a plea for her to come forward, Mrs Giblet did not do so.

  

The two dogs when they were younger

Another potential victim of the dogs, 17-year-old Celeste, has since come forward and claimed she had been bitten by the same dogs in the same park three weeks ago.

"I was thinking 'why isn't this lady helping me?', she can see that her dogs are hurting me," she said.

The local council vowed to prosecute the "callous" attack and the dogs' owner, who - so the family claims - did not stay to help the girl after she was viciously attacked.

The earlier victim of Michelle Giblet's vicious dogs

Channel Nine News reporter Scott Cunningham said it was likely that the dogs will be euthanized while the owner faces fines of up to $20,000.

The nine-year-old girl remains in Princess Margaret Hospital after extensive surgery to her wounds. She is being sedated to deal with the pain, Mr Cunningham said.

The girl's father is now pushing for law changes which would see owners of dogs who attack penalized under criminal law just like if they had committed an assault themselves.

Note: Nine News identified the pit bull owner as Michelle Giblet, which is the name I used this September 2016 post. However, now they're identifying her as Michelle Simpson (Michelle Louise Simpson). She has been criminally charged: "Australia: Michelle Simpson, 50, charged after her two pit bulls mauled 9-year-old girl"

(WAtoday - ‎Sept 12, 2016‎)