85 Year Old Woman Mauled

[Yonjuro]

Woman, 85, mauled in dog attack

LIAM CROY, Yahoo!7

August 23, 2013, 10:47 am

An 85-year-old woman suffered serious facial injuries when she was mauled by two dogs this morning.

The attack happened about 8.40am on Scott Street in Koongamia.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said the woman was “conscious and breathing, but not alert.”

She said the dogs were locked in a house while the elderly victim was taken to the nearby Swan District Hospital.

She has been transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

A police spokeswoman said the 85-year-old had serious head and facial injuries.

The circumstances surrounding the attack and the breed of the dogs are not yet known.

City of Swan rangers are investigating and the dogs have been seized.

[Yonjuro]

update

An 85-year-old woman suffered serious head and facial injuries when she was mauled by two dogs this morning in Perth’s foothills.

The attack happened about 8.40am on Scott Street in Koongamia.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said paramedics arrived to find the woman “conscious and breathing but not alert”.

She said the dogs were locked in a house while the elderly victim was taken to the nearby Swan District Hospital.

It is understood the 85-year-old was then transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, where she is in a serious condition.

A police spokeswoman said she understood the dogs were a Staffordshire Terrier/Bull Mastiff cross, and were unregistered.

The circumstances surrounding the attack are not yet known.

City of Swan chief executive Mick Foley said two unregistered, female dogs had been impounded.

“The City’s Customer Advocates are gathering as much evidence and information about the incident as possible. Statements have been taken from witnesses,” he said.

“Only once this investigation is complete will a decision be made on what will happen to these dogs.”

Tougher penalties will apply for offences involving dangerous dogs under proposed new laws that were introduced to the WA parliament in June.

[Yonjuro]

... just heard interview with Vet on the radio who is inspecting the case.

Apparently the dogs escaped from a backyard, owner possibly at work. Vet said dogs appeared to be Staffy mastiff crosses. He said the lady attached had bites to the throat and had fingers snapped. THe dogs bolted back to their own yard when challenged by a passer by. Vet was pro deed not breed but conceded that breeds like this are overly represented in these type of attacks, part of this he put down to the sheer numbers of such dogs.

He went on to say that this if usually a case of poor training and ownership. He also mentioned it would be a big mistake to go down the path that Victoria has taken with breed legislation.

Anyway that is basically what he said in the interview, which seemed quite balanced from my perspective. It was on radio 6PR at 12;50ish Perth time.

[OSoSwift]

I did see some footage showing a dog being taken to a van, I am not sure if it was one of the dogs though, or generic footage.

I have to say that if dogs have inflicted that sort of damage, regardless of breed, euthing is the only option.

[Alibi]

Omg the poor lady.

[WreckitWhippet]

another case of owners not keeping dogs in their own yards..

I really feel for the victims of such dog attacks that are so easily preventable.

[melzawelza]

Absolutely awful, that poor poor woman!

I really want to hear more background on this one. I saw a picture of the dog being carried to the van, so it was obviously able to be handled by the ACO.

I have to say that if dogs have inflicted that sort of damage, regardless of breed, euthing is the only option.

Agreed absolutely, but I just wish they would do a full behavioural evaluation of the dog prior. How will we ever learn from such a tragedy otherwise?

[korbin13]

Just goes to show how different the news stories can be, read this compared to the summary of the radio report Yonjuro posted (please note this is not aimed at Yonjuro!)

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/elderly-woman-mauled-by-dog-in-middle-swan/story-fnhocxo3-1226702742168

AN elderly woman has been rushed to hospital with serious head and facial injuries after being mauled by a dog in the Swan Valley.

Two unregistered dogs have been impounded over this morning’s attack which left an 82-year-old woman in hospital with serious head and facial injuries.

The woman and her husband were walking down Scott Street in Koongamia around 8.40am when two dogs burst out of the front door of a house, inflicting potentially life-threatening injuries on her in a savage attack.

The woman received head injuries and lost a lot of blood.

She was initially taken to nearby Swan District Hospital but has since been transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

``It's a very serious attack,'' a police spokeswoman said.

She said the owner of the dogs was home at the time and it's believed he tried to intervene.

The spokeswoman said she understood the dogs were a Staffordshire Terrier/Bull Mastiff cross, and were unregistered.

Tougher penalties will apply for offences involving dangerous dogs under proposed new laws that were introduced to the WA parliament in June.

In a statement issued this morning the City of Swan said one of its “customer advocates” had attended the scene of the attack and had impounded the two female dogs.

“The City's customer advocates are gathering as much evidence and information about the incident as possible. Statements have been taken from witnesses,” City of Swan chief Mike Foley said.

“Two female dogs have been impounded and will remain impounded while the City's investigation is completed. Neither of the dogs is registered.

“Only once this investigation is complete will a decision be made on what will happen to these dogs"

Now the dogs were in the house and the owner was home! Not that any of that is relevant to the poor woman, she now has to deal with the injuries

[Diva]

. He said the lady attached had bites to the throat and had fingers snapped.

Oh God, at 85 yrs old, that poor poor woman.

[Loving my Oldies]

What a truly horrible horrible thing to have happened. I heard this on the car radio, but not in as much detail as has been posted here.

I agree with Melza to a certain extent about evaluating the dogs, but I believe it should go further and that the way the dogs were kept, interacted with, the owner's perception of what dogs should and shouldn't do, be allowed to do, etc etc.

Unless and until owners are made fully accountable for their dogs' actions, we aren't going to advance.

To have reached the stage where toddlers can be killed in their own homes and people are attacked in the streets is just totally beyond the pale. These are not longer unusual and out of the ordinary events - they are happening just about every day.

Councils have to step up to the mark, train the rangers, know the laws and carry them out. We don't need any more legislations; we need those we have acted upon.

I am sure every decent person hearing the account of this attack would be sick to the stomach and filled with horror at what that elderly couple suffered and will continue to suffer.

[melzawelza]

What a truly horrible horrible thing to have happened. I heard this on the car radio, but not in as much detail as has been posted here.

I agree with Melza to a certain extent about evaluating the dogs, but I believe it should go further and that the way the dogs were kept, interacted with, the owner's perception of what dogs should and shouldn't do, be allowed to do, etc etc.

Unless and until owners are made fully accountable for their dogs' actions, we aren't going to advance.

To have reached the stage where toddlers can be killed in their own homes and people are attacked in the streets is just totally beyond the pale. These are not longer unusual and out of the ordinary events - they are happening just about every day.

Councils have to step up to the mark, train the rangers, know the laws and carry them out. We don't need any more legislations; we need those we have acted upon.

I am sure every decent person hearing the account of this attack would be sick to the stomach and filled with horror at what that elderly couple suffered and will continue to suffer.

Agree totally that everything else should be examined too - I just meant in relation to the euthanasia that the dog should be evaluated first.

Dog attacks all around the world are actually hugely on the decline - I don't have Aussie stats at hand but there is a study on reported dog attacks in the USA from the 70s until now and the decline is HUGE, coinciding with laws regarding dogs being contained and kept on leash in public etc. It would be the same in Australia.

It seemsso much worse because these days we hear about things that happen on the other side of the country. In the 70s you'd only hear about what was happening in your own little town, but now you and I in NSW are discussing a dog attack that happened in WA.

Doesn't mean we discount them and stop trying to make that rate even lower, but there isn't a dog bite epidemic as the media would have us believe.

[Salukifan]

Crossbred, unregistered, inadequately contained.. Why isn't the press picking up on these recurrng themes rather than banging the BSL drum for the pollies??

[mita]

As I understand it, the elderly are the next most vulnerable group for dog attacks.... after young children.

Some by-laws broken. Dogs not registered, dogs not contained on their property....

A US study found, among other things, that dogs involved in serious attacks tended not to be registered. Part of a picture of lack of responsibility by an owner. I wish there was a serious dog attack investigation team.... that would examine cases like this one.

Poor lady....so terrifying & brutal thing to happen to an 85 yr old.

[Yonjuro]

Just goes to show how different the news stories can be, read this compared to the summary of the radio report Yonjuro posted (please note this is not aimed at Yonjuro!)

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/elderly-woman-mauled-by-dog-in-middle-swan/story-fnhocxo3-1226702742168

AN elderly woman has been rushed to hospital with serious head and facial injuries after being mauled by a dog in the Swan Valley.

Two unregistered dogs have been impounded over this morning’s attack which left an 82-year-old woman in hospital with serious head and facial injuries.

The woman and her husband were walking down Scott Street in Koongamia around 8.40am when two dogs burst out of the front door of a house, inflicting potentially life-threatening injuries on her in a savage attack.

The woman received head injuries and lost a lot of blood.

She was initially taken to nearby Swan District Hospital but has since been transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

``It's a very serious attack,'' a police spokeswoman said.

She said the owner of the dogs was home at the time and it's believed he tried to intervene.

The spokeswoman said she understood the dogs were a Staffordshire Terrier/Bull Mastiff cross, and were unregistered.

Tougher penalties will apply for offences involving dangerous dogs under proposed new laws that were introduced to the WA parliament in June.

In a statement issued this morning the City of Swan said one of its “customer advocates” had attended the scene of the attack and had impounded the two female dogs.

“The City's customer advocates are gathering as much evidence and information about the incident as possible. Statements have been taken from witnesses,” City of Swan chief Mike Foley said.

“Two female dogs have been impounded and will remain impounded while the City's investigation is completed. Neither of the dogs is registered.

“Only once this investigation is complete will a decision be made on what will happen to these dogs"

Now the dogs were in the house and the owner was home! Not that any of that is relevant to the poor woman, she now has to deal with the injuries

No offence taken, I am only saying what they said on the radio. Having said that the reports seem quite similar. Except vet said be believed that the dogs had escaped from the yard, so that is different, he also believed the owner must have been at work.

But yeah, it seems worse knowing the owner was at home! In regards to the footage, the same radio interviewee said the owner carrier the dogs out to the ranger one by one so the footage seen is probably this case and not stock footage.

Either way it is terrible and the info that I posted was only hours old, so no doubt more fact will come out.

[Diva]

It seemsso much worse because these days we hear about things that happen on the other side of the country. In the 70s you'd only hear about what was happening in your own little town, but now you and I in NSW are discussing a dog attack that happened in WA.

I am not so sure of that. I was around in the 70s. News got around a lot slower, but something like this still made the print media across the country.

[Yonjuro]

As I understand it, the elderly are the next most vulnerable group for dog attacks.... after young children.

Some by-laws broken. Dogs not registered, dogs not contained on their property....

A US study found, among other things, that dogs involved in serious attacks tended not to be registered. Part of a picture of lack of responsibility by an owner. I wish there was a serious dog attack investigation team.... that would examine cases like this one.

Poor lady....so terrifying & brutal thing to happen to an 85 yr old.

Yeah, the vet said that the shuffling walk that some elderly do can bait such dogs - or words to that effect?

He also said that the dogs when in the van had that sad/guilty look that they knew they had done wrong?

I should also say that I was in the garden pulling weeds when the interview came on, I wasn't taking notes so any mistakes in the reporting of the reporting could be mine. Having said that I think I have been pretty accurate in recounting what was said.

THe vet was pretty firm in deed not breed and saying the Vic model should not be adopted here in the west.

When discussing the Vic model on destroying family pets of certain breeds he said n a lighter note, that years ago he had to report any dingo or dingo crosses that came into his vet practice to the authorities. He said that in many cases he would call them or treat them as Long legged Corgies!!! LOL.

[Loving my Oldies]

Dog attacks all around the world are actually hugely on the decline.

Doesn't mean we discount them and stop trying to make that rate even lower, but there isn't a dog bite epidemic as the media would have us believe.

Please note that I haven't quoted Melza's full post :) .

Whether attack numbers are on the decline or not, we have to force those responsible for managing dogs in the community to do their jobs. How many times on these forums have we heard posters say that they were unable to get a ranger or that the rangers wouldn't come out on weekends. (Yes, I know there are wonderful wonderful rangers out there - but they are in a minority.)

There may not be a dog bit epidemic "as the media would have us believe", but I think if you look at stats from hospitals you would be aghast at the numbers. Those that are reported in the newspapers are only the horrific ones and just a small percentage of the actual bites and attacks.

Anyone who has been involved in dog rescue and pounds and who out in the streets everyday with their dogs as I am, would be able to fill a book with stories the incredible lack of knowledge within the general public about what is on the end of the leash.

[mita]

Yeah, the vet said that the shuffling walk that some elderly do can bait such dogs - or words to that effect?...

Yes, the elderly, like young children, move differently... & tend to smell differently.

So they can seem to dogs....'something else' to be 'dealt with' & different from the usual 'people' they may be fine with.

The Australian Veterinary Association has a neat summary of the factors that interact, to end in dogs' biting/attacking:

The facts about dog bites

While genetics are an important factor, the impact of the environment and learning are

critical to the behaviour of a dog. The tendency of a dog to bite is dependent on at least five

interacting factors:

 heredity (genes, breed)

 early experience

 socialisation and training

 health (physical and psychological) and

 victim behaviour (Beaver 2001, Seksel 2002, Snyder 2005).

Other factors include the sex and age of the animal, along with a range of other social and environmental factors.1

Edited August 23, 2013 by mita

[melzawelza]

Dog attacks all around the world are actually hugely on the decline.

Doesn't mean we discount them and stop trying to make that rate even lower, but there isn't a dog bite epidemic as the media would have us believe.

Please note that I haven't quoted Melza's full post :) .

Whether attack numbers are on the decline or not, we have to force those responsible for managing dogs in the community to do their jobs. How many times on these forums have we heard posters say that they were unable to get a ranger or that the rangers wouldn't come out on weekends. (Yes, I know there are wonderful wonderful rangers out there - but they are in a minority.)

There may not be a dog bit epidemic "as the media would have us believe", but I think if you look at stats from hospitals you would be aghast at the numbers. Those that are reported in the newspapers are only the horrific ones and just a small percentage of the actual bites and attacks.

Anyone who has been involved in dog rescue and pounds and who out in the streets everyday with their dogs as I am, would be able to fill a book with stories the incredible lack of knowledge within the general public about what is on the end of the leash.

Agree totally on all your points, I just wanted to point out that if we're comparable to the USA (which we are in pretty much all other Animal Management stats) then it's not worse now that it was some years ago :)

Edited August 23, 2013 by melzawelza

[mita]

if we're comparable to the USA (which we are in pretty much all other Animal Management stats) then it's not worse now that it was some years ago :)

Two doctors from Brisbane hospitals did an over-view of treatment of bites (From the Australian Provider).

The annual incidence of dog bites requiring emergency department treatment is 12.9 per 10 000 persons, with children aged 5-9 (particularly boys) having an incidence of 60.7 per 10 000 persons aged 5-9 years. Face, neck and head bites are more frequent in children.1

If only the annual incidence of human -on- human injuries, needing medical treatment, was so low. Hospital emergency departments are flooded with them..

Looks like if you're in a dark alley, statistically, you're better off meeting a dog than a person. But not quite so better off, if you're a child....or an elderly person.

Edited August 23, 2013 by mita