A grisly reminder of the damage pet dogs can do when allowed to roam.
Cairns Vets regularly treat
Cairns pets which are attacked by dogs: the damage can be shocking and its easy to imagine how a child could be seriously injured or even killed by dogs, particularly when in packs.
Pet owners are responsible for their pet's actions and need to ensure they are safely confined when not with the owner.
Laura Packham
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
© The Cairns Post
Two bull-mastiff cross dogs responsible for attacking a nine-year-old boy at Mooroobool on Monday afternoon are expected to be destroyed in coming days.
Schoolboy Jimmy Koiatu was recovering in Cairns Base Hospital after surgery to piece together his torn left earfollowing the attack near his McEwan Rd home yesterday.
"I went to get (the bike) and two dogs seen me and chased me," he said from his hospital bed.
"I fell down and I got up and then he (the dog) jumped on me. I was crying."
Mother-of-four Akauta Nanua said she was horrified to find her son come home covered in blood.
"When he came home you could see the holes in his arms with blood coming out," she said.
"My son was shaking and he had blood on all his face and legs.
"I was shaking and crying for my son.
"I was so, so scared."
Cairns Regional Council animal control officers seized two three-year-old bull-mastiff cross dogs from a nearby home on Monday afternoon.
Both dogs are expected to be destroyed this week.
But a dispute between the dog owner and victim’s family has started, with the circumstances surrounding the attack still unclear.
Jimmy said he went to retrieve his cousin’s bike from a vacant lot, neighbouring the dog owner’s home.
Mrs Nanua said a hole in the dog owner’s back fence allowed the dogs to escape and attack her son.
But the dog owner believed her pet was only protecting her property at the time.
She said children in the neighbourhood had a history of teasing her dog, and alleged on one occasion a brick had been thrown on to her home.
Recovering in hospital: Mum Akauta Nanua with her son Jimmy Koiatu, 9, in Cairns Base Hospital where he is recovering after being mauled in a vicious dog attack on Monday. Picture: CHRIS HYDE
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