Toddler In Hospital After Dog Mauling

[Leelaa17]

Thought I'd just post this up as I am working at this paper and thought people might be interested.

http://macarthur-chronicle-campbelltown.wh...ee-dog-mauling/

A TODDLER is in hospital after a dog that escaped from a Macquarie Fields back yard mauled him in a park yesterday.

The dog has been impounded and its owner left facing a possible court appearance after a boy, 16 months, was mauled in a park about 7.30pm yesterday.

The toddler and his parents were playing in a Clematis Rd park, when an alaskan malamute ran towards the child and attacked him.

The child sustained multiple bite wounds and remains this morning in The Sydney Children’s Hospital where he is listed stable.

The owner of the dog has been identified and early investigations suggest the dog escaped from a back yard.

Legal action is being considered by officers from the Macquarie Fields Local Area Command.

I hope the toddler is ok and recovers fully. I would like to know more about the situation in regards to the dog though?? I mean, was there even secure fencing around the property?

awful story.

there is way too many of these stories coming to light.

[borderfan]

deleted

Edited March 8, 2011 by borderfan

[Diva]

Poor child, sounds horrendous

[poodlefan]

Poor kid. How terrifying for both mother and child.

[Panto]

Oh the poor child!

A friend of mine attended the Leeton mauling and I will never forget his description of that.

There is an update to this story in the SMH:

Attack dog owner charged: police

Stephanie Gardiner

March 8, 2011 - 1:09PM

The owner of a dog that attacked a toddler playing in a Sydney park has been charged and the animal put down, police say.

The 16-month old boy was playing with his parents in a park on Clematis Place, Macquarie Fields, in Sydney's south-west, when he was attacked by an Alaskan malamute about 7.30pm yesterday, police said.

The boy suffered several bite wounds and is in a stable condition in the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick.

Advertisement: Story continues below He is expected to undergo surgery today.

Police said the 40-year-old man who owned the dog has been charged with three offences including owning an attacking dog and having a dog in a prohibited area.

The dog was put down this morning, police said.

The man will appear in Campbelltown Local Court on April 20.

A neighbour, who did not want to be identified, said she heard a noise in the park and thought people were just playing.

"I closed the gate ... not realising that it was some sort of tragedy happening," she said.

"It really distressed me.

"My son said: 'Mum, it's something serious.'

"[There was] a woman screaming: 'Oh my god, oh my god.'"

She said a crowd of people gathered in the park soon afterwards.

"One of the children was screaming hysterically," she said.

She was unsure if the upset child was the attack victim.

"I was traumatised."

RSPCA NSW spokeswoman Marianne Zander said dog owners should make sure their pets are kept securely in a backyard.

Big dogs should be kept behind tall, secure fences, while small dogs should be stopped from digging holes to get out and roam, she said.

"The responsibility does lie with the owner to ensure that the dog is kept safely and securely in the backyard," she said.

She said dogs should also be socialised with other animals and get used to small children.

Edited March 8, 2011 by Panto

[Leelaa17]

thats horrible! the poor boy! i hope he recovers fully and isn't completely traumatised by the experience.

the owner should've had the dog in secure fencing, especially if the house is near a park where children are near!!!

no one wins.

[cmkelpie]

Deleted.

Edited March 8, 2011 by cmkelpie

[SnoPaws]

I agree with CMKelpie.

Poor, poor little baby

Edited March 8, 2011 by SnoPaws

[OSoSwift]

Poor child and mother, I hope all that were there can get over their mental scares and I hope the child n mother recover well from the physical ones as well.

My dogs are by no means people aggressive at all, but I know when I lock them up they cannot get out.

[Quickasyoucan]

Awful that such an attack should happen.

I am, however, glad to see that more action is being taken than simply blaming a dog and putting it down.

If more charges follow on from attacks like this perhaps we might actually see a decrease in the number of attacks.

My heartfelt best wishes for the recovery of the child and their mother.

[LizT]

The poor child and mother. How horrible. They will carry emotional scars for life. What makes it even worse in my opinion is the fact that this family come from a culture where dogs are not kept as pets and they already have a resentment and fear of dogs. This will not help dog ownership arguement one bit, only serve to increase the fear and resentment of ALL dogs as a whole.

[Swiss Girl]

If the child was on the swing, he certainly did nothing to cause this.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-na...0308-1blch.html

Sydney mum tried to save baby from dog

March 8, 2011

AAP

A mother tried in vain to stop a dog from repeatedly biting her toddler in a vicious mauling at a western Sydney park.

Asma Rashid's 16-month-old son was playing on a swing in Macquarie Fields about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday when the Alaskan Malumute attacked.

"He was using the swing and suddenly the dog came ... I tried to save my baby, but the dog was so big," the distressed woman told the Seven Network.

It took half an hour for the dog to be brought under control despite a neighbour trying to fight it off with a chair.

"He kept biting and biting and biting," Ms Rashid told Channel Nine.

The toddler was left with bites to his head, arms and neck.

Police officers gave him first aid before he was taken to Liverpool Hospital and later transferred to Westmead.

A 40-year-old Macquarie Fields man has been charged with owning an attacking dog, keeping an unregistered dog and being the owner of a dog in a prohibited area.

He was given a Future Court Attendance Notice to appear in Campbelltown Local Court on April 20.