"girl Mauled Trying To Save Dog"

[beau7]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/817241...ked-school-girl Edited November 29, 2010 by beau7

[WreckitWhippet]

A schoolgirl was hospitalised with facial and arm injuries after a dog attacked her on a busy road in Galston.

Jessica Urbano, 12, was being driven to school by her mother when she noticed two dogs across the road.

Jessica told her mother to stop because she wanted to help the animal avoid running into oncoming traffic.

Instead, the dog turned around and attacked her, leaving bite marks on her face.

Frank Barberer, a witness to the attack, saw the dog jump on top of Jessica and start mauling her.

Jessica said all she could feel was "blood running down her face".

Her mother immediately grabbed the dog from behind and pulled it off her daughter.

The dog that attacked her was an Alaskan malamute that had supposedly escaped from a property in Galston.

Both animals are now locked away in a pound in Kogorah while authorities wait to interview the dogs' owner.

There is now way on this earth I'd let a 12 year old out of the car to chase unknown dogs in a high traffic area.

Lovely thought but poorly executed and a very stupid move on the part of the parent.

Next time ... call the Ranger

[beau7]

Totally agree. I feel sorry for the girl and the dogs

[tivins]

..if it were 'mauling' her, she would've lose half her face and her mum would not have been able to remove a full-on dog with ease..

[poodlefan]

A high price to pay for trying to save a dog's life.

The ironic (and unfortunate) part is that her actions have pretty much signed the dog's death warrant.

[Greytmate]

..if it were 'mauling' her, she would've lose half her face and her mum would not have been able to remove a full-on dog with ease..

What ever you call what that dog did, it is really horrific.

A very serious and sustained attack. The arm injuries show that the girl may have tried to protect her face.

A strong adult who is motivated could very easily drag a 40 kg dog off their child, and it was very lucky that the lady was able to get there quickly and do that.

[KKDD]

..if it were 'mauling' her, she would've lose half her face and her mum would not have been able to remove a full-on dog with ease..

Admittedly I couldnt see the arm injuries described in a previous post, but if the supplied footage is anything to go by, either the medico who treated the injuries to the girls face is a virtual magician, or the use of the word 'mauling' is a gross exaggeration.

Very unfortunate for the poor child, who sadly, might have a less charitable attitude to stray dogs in future, but I do get sooo sick of the way the media pimps up stories of dog attacks.

[Simply Grand]

VERY lucky girl that her eye wasn't damaged, those injuries are close!!

What an absolutely stupid news story, it's told as if a horrible, unappreciative dog over-reacted and rejected a kind offer of help from a concerned citizen, instead of a situation where an unknown, unaccompanied dog reacted unpredictably!

No mention of how the humans involved in the story should have acted differently to prevent the "attack" - ie. owners ensuring dogs are contained, and even more importantly, parents teaching their kids NOT to approach strange dogs, especially on a busy street! Seriously, what was the mother thinking???

ETA - I'm still annoyed at the dumb report, it's not like dogs are going to see that news story and think, "oh I really must behave better if I'm out wandering and a small human approaches me!". Geez.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Saxonpup

[Souff]

Oh dear, we see an animal in danger and then put yourself in potential danger, while your parent allows you to be in potential danger.

Are there any rehab places that such parents and their children can go to?

They are not helping the animal world.

I hope the owner of the dog gets the book thrown at them too .... there is a reason why our dogs are supposed to be under effective control at all times. Dogs on roads are not only a hazard to themselves, but to everyone else on the road.

The ranger is paid to do the rescue of dogs from roads, hopefully somebody will tell this girl and her mother that. And yes, I know exactly how long it would have taken the ranger to come out to this particular area. The dogs would have moved on by the time the ranger got there. It is a catch-22 and this girl has paid a high price, but the outcome could have been worse.

Souff

Edited November 30, 2010 by Souff

[Donegal]

My mum taught me never to approach, pat or interfere with a strange dog unless the dogs owner was present and you asked them if you could. The girl's mother should be locked in the pound for a few days and taught some basic animal safety. There is no way my mum would have let me do that at any age let alone 12

[poochmad]

It's a pretty sad story all around. The girl was being 'heroic' by helping the dogs and now the dogs will most likely be PTS due to the attack.

Frankly I'm surprised that a mother would say ok to her young daughter to go after an unknown dog, especially one that size...oh and what about the fact that it was happening on a busy road??

[Just Andrea]

Perhaps a little hasty in judgement on the parent........

Kids will be kids.......we have no idea whether the mother was actually slowing down and stopping the car to attend to the dog herself and was going to tell the child to stay there, whether the kid just raced out herself...... who knows.......unless you were there...........

Kids think with their heart not their heads and although not serving either the dog or herself very well, the motives were at least honourable.

Perhaps the mother wasn't thinking straight either........who knows............if I saw an animal brushing with death on a highway I would do whatever I could to try and save it.

I nearly lost my life when I raced onto a busy road at the age of 7 without a second thought to save a dog stuck in the middle of a busy road dodging traffic - I scooped the dog up (it could have bitten me but I wasn't the slightest bit concerned about that but it didn't) and made it most of the way across, then dog jumped out of my arms and got to safety - I wasn't so lucky.

I was under supervision at the time, I was taught road rules from a young age, but all it took was a split second and seeing a dog in distress for all that to go out of the window and for me to race away from my mother and put myself in danger. It happens. Doesn't mean I have an irresponsible parent!

So please lets not tarr and feather the mother.....instead lets save that for the person who let their dogs wander and put everyone in this situation to begin with and the sensationalist journalist who created this "mauling" article.

I hope the child recovers wells without any emotional scarring.........and I'm sad for the dogs that are unlikely to have a future.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Just Andrea

[Souff]

Perhaps a little hasty in judgement on the parent........

Kids will be kids.......we have no idea whether the mother was actually slowing down and stopping the car to attend to the dog herself and was going to tell the child to stay there, whether the kid just raced out herself...... who knows.......unless you were there...........

"Jessica told her mother to stop because she wanted to help the animal avoid running into oncoming traffic."

If you have a 12 year old child who tells you this in a similar situation, will you do all of the dog world a favour and keep driving and do not stop ..... please?

That is, unless you have all the right equipment and training as a professional to handle somebody else's powerful dog in such a stressful situation.

[Just Andrea]

It doesn't actually mean the mother WAS stopping for the child to get out. Its just what the child said she told her mother to the reporter........afterall I'm sure there was no embelishment in the story in the first place right? i.e. use of word mauling.......

Like I said - unless you were there and actually spoke to the mother yourself you have no idea what her actual intentions were.....

If I see a dog in distress - I will stop and help it - child or not - of course in my case I would have not let my child get out and likely have child locks anyway.

But is beside the point.........I would stop to try and help a dog from being obliterated..........that certainly does the dog world more favours than just driving on.........

[Remarkabull]

I certainly wouldn't let my almost 12 year old do anything like that, however, when I was that age I was expected to help my father break up any fights between our dogs (Dobes) and the neighbours GSD's. My mum had/has a bad back and completely panics in those kind of situations so she was no help to anyone and the neighbours used to just stand there with a smile on their faces (idiots) and dad couldn't handle 4 big dogs on his own so it had to be me.

At that age my mother would have let me approach the dog to try and help it but I was a very dog savvy kid and could read and react to the body language of the dog. My kids would want to help but they would turn to me and expect me to take charge and do something about it not let them do it.

[Souff]

But is beside the point.........I would stop to try and help a dog from being obliterated..........that certainly does the dog world more favours than just driving on.........

You are an adult and as far as I am concerned you can make whatever choice you like - however should a reporter ask you later how you got your face ripped open, or your legs, or your arms, would you be kind enough to tell them that you encountered an angry possum in the dark? Please?

The dog world does not need the bad press that happens when people make such choices and get some part of their anatomy opened up.

Souff

[Kirty]

Well I probably would have done the same thing (I wouldn't have let my kids though). The rangers here will not come unless you have contained the dog already. I once called them because a little JRT was running on a main road, causing all kinds of hassle and trying his hardest to get run over, but they wouldn't come unless I caught him. Its pretty standard in Vic.

[Souff]

Well I probably would have done the same thing (I wouldn't have let my kids though). The rangers here will not come unless you have contained the dog already. I once called them because a little JRT was running on a main road, causing all kinds of hassle and trying his hardest to get run over, but they wouldn't come unless I caught him. Its pretty standard in Vic.

As an adult, if you know what you are doing and have the training an experience and can handle a large dog who doesn't want to be handled in a stressful situation, then that is fine.

But if you dont, then dont go there .... and never allow children into the equation, no matter how well intentioned they are.

Apart from anything else, most children would not have had the physical strength needed to handle a large breed that was resisting. Both the child and the dog could end up being hit by a car.

[Leelaa17]

First of all, every time I see a stray dog I immediately stop my car ad get out to help it. I dont think of the consequences. However I do know when a dog doesn't want to be helped. Fortunately, every dog that I have saved has been completely happy to jump into the back of my car.

Second of all - good intentions or not - the mother should NOT have let her kids out to go and get a stray dog. If she wanted to help it she should have done it herself. So even though it was a split second decision or whatever it was... she has kids to think about - and they should be her priority - so it is partly her fault. It also p***ed me off because she seemed so proud that she got the dog off her daughter.

Thirdly, the owners of the dogs should have had better security - this probably wasnt the first time the dogs got out - it normally never is - so they should have done something.

I feel awful for the dogs...

[Sharna3]

Sensationalism at its best. Even the reporter in the clip was over dramatising it. I wonder how the girl "tried to save" the dog? Yanking at it or pushing at it?

Easy error in judgement on the mother's behalf but talk about milking it for all its worth and making a mountain out of a molehill!

Love the "two alaskan malamutes, like these ones" bit .............!!! Bloody useless media.