Staffyluv Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Link The father of a six-year-old WA girl mauled by a pack of dogs says she was a "screaming ball of sand and blood" after being dragged 40 metres by the animals. Maya Wicksteed suffered deep wounds to her scalp and had large chunks of hair ripped out when she was attacked by the six dogs on a property in Baldivis, in Perth’s south, on Friday, the West Australian reported. The property owners threw themselves over the girl to try and protect her after the animals set upon her, her father Bruce said. "I realised Maya was lying underneath him and his wife was lying down in the path of the dogs to try to shield my daughter," Mr Wicksteed said. "I picked up a length of hose and just started whipping them and yelling." The dogs scattered, allowing him to pick up his daughter and run to a nearby house, with three Bull Arabs chasing him. The young girl is now in a stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital after undergoing cosmetic surgery. Mr Wicksteed was working on a vehicle on the property when the attack took place. He is now calling for stricter restrictions on Bull Arabs. "These dogs are bred for a purpose and they are bred for hunting and killing pigs," he said. "They're a killing machine and if a dog can't differentiate between a little girl and a pig, there's an issue." The three Bull Arabs, which belong to the son of the property owners, have been taken by local rangers and may be destroyed, while the three other dogs remain on the property. Source: The West Australian. Author: Nick Pearson, @nickpearson87. Approving editor: Henri Paget How absolutely terrifying for the poor little girl and those trying to protect her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 How awful!!!! I wonder why the dogs were not locked away, or did they escape? Or were they known by the man and his daughter? I wonder what happened to trigger the attack? So many questions.... Poor little girl, I hope her physical and mental scars heal. Regardless of how or why it happened, how horrific for anyone who was involved. I'm sure they didn;t expect their day to end like that when they got up that morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korbin13 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/girl-4-stable-after-three-dog-mauling/story-e6frg143-1226381921285 The dogs are pig hunters. I don't think that there is any law in WA that states that hunting dogs are to be treated as dangerous or restricted but I could be wrong. Interesting to read some of the comments, one says that the little girl went into the pen that the dogs were kept in? And they had an e fence? Poor little girl, her scars are going to be more than skin deep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/girl-4-stable-after-three-dog-mauling/story-e6frg143-1226381921285 The dogs are pig hunters. I don't think that there is any law in WA that states that hunting dogs are to be treated as dangerous or restricted but I could be wrong. no, i don't think so either...i just meant in the way a regular pet dog would be locked away if strangers or tradies come to the house. very sad all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korbin13 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/girl-4-stable-after-three-dog-mauling/story-e6frg143-1226381921285 The dogs are pig hunters. I don't think that there is any law in WA that states that hunting dogs are to be treated as dangerous or restricted but I could be wrong. no, i don't think so either...i just meant in the way a regular pet dog would be locked away if strangers or tradies come to the house. very sad all round. Sorry, I think that we are at cross purposes! I am just thinking that there aren't any laws on the way that they are contained in WA and maybe there should be? Especially when the number of dogs are so high, very easy to get into pack mentality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddick Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 The part what I don't like is that they maybe killed. They should be killed no matter if they have attack a person once they will do it again. I think this comes down to the mob mentality of us humams. As soon as one starts the other just blindly join in. So put them all down as it is what I would be demanding if it happen to one on my grandkids. If my dog bit one on mine I know for sure he will not last that day out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Horrible, and as with a lot of attacks, very easily avoided. Dogs should have been locked up and kid should not have been allowed anywhere near them in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yes I can't help wonder how this all happened, what was the child doing, why wasn't she being supervised etc, it's an awful thing to happen but I think humans need to take their share of responsibility here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe001 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 As a child (and I assume it still happens) I was often on friends and families properties with bull arabs wandering around. In those days they weren't called that - just the 'piggers'. No one seemed to lock their pig dogs up. Except the kelpies - they were always chained when not working. I would have thought it more important to lock up all. So I can see why this happened so easily. So sad for all concerned - the little girl, her family and the owners of the dogs. And of course the dogs themsleves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 When will the basic messages get thro' to people? First, children in that little girl's age group are the most vulnerable for dog bites/attacks. Second, dogs like pig dogs are trained and used to killing.....and don't know the difference between a small child and an animal. At least the property owners tried to shield the child and may have saved her life. But they desperately need a commonsense transplant after having a pack of pig-killing dogs and a small child in the same space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yes I can't help wonder how this all happened, what was the child doing, why wasn't she being supervised etc, it's an awful thing to happen but I think humans need to take their share of responsibility here Her father was right there so she was being supervised. Supervision won't prevent a pack of dogs attacking or killing a kid. It is the one thing that really bothers me about the "supervise kids around dogs" message - people seem to think it keeps kids safe around unsafe dogs. The dogs should have been locked up before she arrived, in an enclosure that a child can't open. I do that for my FA mini schnauzer and she couldn't kill a child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yes I can't help wonder how this all happened, what was the child doing, why wasn't she being supervised etc, it's an awful thing to happen but I think humans need to take their share of responsibility here Her father was right there so she was being supervised. Supervision won't prevent a pack of dogs attacking or killing a kid. It is the one thing that really bothers me about the "supervise kids around dogs" message - people seem to think it keeps kids safe around unsafe dogs. The dogs should have been locked up before she arrived, in an enclosure that a child can't open. I do that for my FA mini schnauzer and she couldn't kill a child. No, but I'm sure she could leave a nasty scar on a face. You are sensible and think ahead, so many others (as it appears in this case) do not. Poor child and all concerned. Famous last words "we didn't think......" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyB Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I would assume that the child and dogs were supervised, just on the grounds that 6 large dogs trained and used for hunting could very quickly and easily kill a child and the adults would have had to have been close by to shield the girl so quickly. Having said that though, they should have been locked away securely. Anything could have set them off and it's likely that we'll never know what happened in the moments leading up to the attack. My heart goes out to the girl and her family as well as the owners of these dogs. It's a terrible and traumatic even for everyone and I hope the girl recovers well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe001 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Here is another article that answers some of the questions posed by us here. Seems the 3 bull arabs were visiting as they were owned by the home owners son - so didn't normally live there. The man was fixing a bus and his child was somewhere (doesn't say how close). So who is to blame? Maybe the son didn't know the child was there and had no reason to suspect his dogs would attack so casually walked into his parents place with his excited dogs off leash - as you would. The dad didn't know the dogs were coming so didn't keep his daughter protected, she was probably just skipping around near the adults - as you would. The owners of the house seemed to act quickly and protect the girl as she would be dead within seconds if they hadn't been close. The dogs probably (maybe?)walked/ran around the corner and were startled and went into prey drive. As I said before many friends and family of mine have working bull arabs and kids are always running around. The property I almost grew-up on always had 6 or more huge piggers wandering around. i think until something like this happens no one realises the consequences of taking large powerful dogs for granted. I myself got a bit of a scare with my daughter and nephew a while ago. They were playing downstairs and we were all chatting on the stairs. My lab*mastiff was hanging around. The kids chased each other behind the trees and while my daughter ran back, my nephew only walked. I asked what was wrong. My nephew said 'Moo held my arm in his mouth when I was chasing Kate'. Obviously, Moo didn't like to see his child chased and decided to stop it. Luckily, very luckily as he was a big dog, he was calm and smart and just used his powerful jaws for stopping and holding and not killing. I never leave any dogs loose when others kids are here even if we are right there. Here is the story. So sad for everyone. No charges yet after dogs attack child From: AAP June 04, 2012 2:12PM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? 0A SAVAGE attack by a pack of dogs on a six-year-old girl at a residence south of Perth is under investigation before charges can be laid. Maya Wicksteed is recovering in the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children after being mauled by several dogs at a Baldivis property on Friday. City of Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said three bull Arab mastiff dogs had been impounded but investigations were continuing into whether three other dogs, including a German shepherd and a red cloud kelpie, were involved in the attack. "The other dogs had gone when our ranger got on site," Mr Sammels said today. He said the child was attacked "quite savagely and brutally" after she wandered away from her father, who was cleaning a bus. The owner of the dogs was visiting his father at the address where the attack occurred, which was posted with "Beware of the dog" signs. Mr Sammels said the council was conducting the investigation in consultation with police and it was expected to take much of this week. He said no charges had yet been laid and no decision had been made on the future of the three dogs. It was possible the dogs could be put down, the owner could be prosecuted, or the dogs could even be returned to their owner, Mr Sammels said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tia Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I'm so sorry for the little girl and yes accidents like this always seem to happen. One would have thought the dogs would have been secured with relatively unknown people on the property. Here's a comment from the newspaper link that got me though... (Lyn Posted at 2:02 PM Today Immediately eradicate all killer dog breeds Australia wide & impound any human beings who enjoy having dogs that risk innocent children's lives & damage their futures. Who's rights are more important?) Who is going to judge which breed are killers? Any dog especially in large numbers can at the very least leave some nasty physical and mental scarring on a person so where does this woman want the line drawn? It all comes down to training and proper restraint of the animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted June 4, 2012 Author Share Posted June 4, 2012 Amazing Tia... People like the one who you have quoted never cease to amaze me... They get on their high horse know jack shit about the situation (because lets admit, there really isn't enough information yet to make an informed opinion, other than to say how horrible the situation is)... And that moron is calling for the culling of all dogs, because honestly, almost any dog could potentially kill someone... God I hate people sometimes... The investigation isn't even complete yet. What the hell is a killer dog breed anyway? What happened to that little girl is beyond horrific. If they were my dogs, I would PTS... But there is possibly more to it all, who knows? perhaps the dogs have never been aggressive before, who knows what triggered the attack? There are so many what ifs in this story, we will just have to wait for the authorities to complete their work and let the public know what happened.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Poor little bugger dosent matter what the trigger they attacked PTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyB Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Poor little bugger dosent matter what the trigger they attacked PTS I agree, if they were my dogs I wouldn't hesitate to have them PTS. It would rip my heart out to do it, but it would be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris the Rebel Wolf Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 When. Will. People. Learn. What does it take? Weather it was unrestrained dog, unsupervised child, poorly trained dog/trained hunting dog or a combination... both owners and parents need to take that responsibility. Thoughts are with the little girl for a speedy recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncarter Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) what a horrible thing to happen to that little girl. I bet now some people will call for a Bull Arab amnesty, can you imagine that?? Lets see them draw up the 'breed characteristics' and identification booklet for the animal control people Edited June 4, 2012 by ncarter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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