Dog Attack....

[Fit for a King]

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/second-child-mauled-by-pet-dog-20111014-1lnsq.html

[WreckitWhippet]

Second child mauled by pet dog Megan Levy and Adam Cooper

October 14, 2011 - 1:22PM

.A four-year-old girl has been taken to hospital after her pet dog bit her on the head in Melbourne’s outer east this morning, the second dog attack on a young child in as many days.

Paramedics said the girl was playing on a swing in her backyard in Mooroolbark when the dog, believed to be a Staffordshire terrier, attacked her just before 11am.

‘‘The dog briefly latched onto the girl and caused quite a deep wound on her forehead which extends into her hair,’’ advanced life support paramedic Margaret Harris said.

Advertisement: Story continues below ‘‘Her mother remained very calm which helped keep the girl calm until we arrived.’’

Ms Harris said the girl was given pain relief through an inhaler and nasal spray to calm her down.

‘‘The pain relief drugs helped settle her and she was actually sleepy as she was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a stable condition,’’ Mrs Harris said.

It comes less than 24 hours after a toddler was bitten on the top of the head and on her cheek by her family’s pet dog at a home in Werribee.

The 16-month-old girl suffered a five-centimetre gash to the top of the head and a one-centimetre wound under her left eye.

That dog is believed to be a Malamute and is understood to have been a long-time pet of the family’s.

Paramedic Michael Garland said the girl’s parents used face washers to stem the bleeding before help arrived about 5.30pm.

‘‘As you could imagine both the mother and father were very upset along with the child,’’ Mr Garland said.

‘‘We loaded the girl and her mother into the back of the ambulance before dressing the wounds to the child’s head with a pad and bandage.

‘‘Once we had controlled the bleeding our biggest concern was trying to console the child as much as possible and keep her nice and calm.

‘‘With her mother’s help we managed to calm her and she actually slept most of the way to the Royal Children’s Hospital.’’

Mr Garland said the incident could have been a lot worse given the circumstances.

‘‘Thankfully her mother was with her at the time it happened. So it wasn’t as though she had been left alone with the animal either. As her mother said, it all happened so quickly,’’ he said.

The attack comes two weeks after the end of an amnesty period for owners to register dangerous dog breeds in Victoria.

The state government introduced the amnesty after the death of four-year-old Ayen Chol, who was killed by a neighbour’s pitbull mastiff after it ran into the girl’s St Albans house in August.

[Cat]

There is already a thread on this

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/228170-new-legislation-apparently-hasnt-changed-the-world/

[sandgrubber]

There is already a thread on this

http://www.dolforums...nged-the-world/

The attack may have been mentioned in the other thread . . . but the other thread is basically a pole.

I hate seeing within the family dog attacks make headlines, especially if they aren't accompanied by warnings that family dogs need socialisation and children must be supervised around dogs. Occasional bites been a part of life since dogs were taken into the human family, and have happened to people in high places as well as everyday folks. Napoleon was bitten and scarred for life by Josephine's pug, Fortune, on their wedding night. Sigmund Freud's Chow bit his official biographer. James Thurber wrote a lovely story called "The Dog Who Bit People" about a family Airdale who bit everyone. He recounts that his mother gave a box of chocolates at Xmas to everyone the dog bit, and she gave away a lot of chocolates. So what? If you don't socialize dogs properly, or raise them to be protective, or don't adequately watch them around children, bites are likely. A bite is different from an attack. Bites aren't good, but people get over them.

[AussieDog]

I think these journalists are using the word "mauled" too often. This incidant is tragic and very sad but the dog did not maul the young girl. Who knows what happened - perhaps it was an accident - girl swinging on swing, dog thinks it's a game and accidently collides with little girl.

I'm sick of hearing about these stories. I really don't understand why they are newsworthy. Talk about scaremongering.

[GeckoTree]

I am sick of them to aussie dog. And car crash reports.

So long as dogs exist some people may find themselves on the bity end for a myriad of reasons kids and adults alike. Just as cars get wrecked and people injured and worse for a myriad of reasons. It's not all owner/driver error, faulty dogs and cars.

[Kirty]

But they weren't Pit Bulls, so clearly the new legislation is working....

[RubyBlue]

But they weren't Pit Bulls, so clearly the new legislation is working....

Clearly no more pitbulls means no more bite problems......