VICTORIA: With kids around, no dogs allowed

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 With kids around, no dogs allowed
Shannon McRae, Mark Buttler, Peter Mickelburough and Kara Lawrence
29dec05

THE parents of a boy mauled by an american pit bull have warned others not to leave their children alone with dogs.

The warning came as an elderly Werribee couple were set upon yesterday by a pair of american pit bulls when they rushed to the aid of the dogs' owner, who had fallen out of his wheelchair.

Under new laws, owners will be forced to have the dogs desexed by April so the breed is eventually bred out of existence in Victoria.

Zak Long, 3, suffered horrific facial injuries when attacked in a neighbour's back yard in Yallourn North, Gippsland, last week. The attack stopped when the dog was killed with an axe.

Parents Melanie Jasinski and Chris Long said yesterday they felt lucky Zak had survived, after a two-year-old girl died as the result of an attack by a dingo cross in New South Wales this week.

And Werribee couple Hinton and Anne Lowe, in their 70s, were taken to the Western hospital yesterday afternoon with cuts after being bitten by two american pit bulls outside their Cottrell St home.

Their neighbour of 27 years, Iain Brown, had fallen from his wheelchair and the dogs lunged at the Lowes in a misguided attempt to protect their owner.

Ms Jasinski and Mr Long gave their own bull terrier, Jack, to Mr Long's mother after the attack, and are torn over whether to allow their pet of eight years back home.

"It doesn't matter how loved your dog is, something can go wrong," Mr Long said.

Zak had his nose re-attached and had more than 300 stitches after the dog, owned by friends of his neighbours, attacked on December 22. After spending Christmas in hospital, he was allowed to go home yesterday.

"People should be careful, you never know what an animal is thinking," Ms Jasinski said.

RSPCA president Hugh Wirth said people should educate children not to approach dogs without supervision. "Parents teach their children stranger danger, but they also need to be teaching them about dealing with dogs," he said.

In Werribee, Mr Brown said he was extremely sorry his neighbours had been hurt but was devastated his dogs had been impounded. The dogs, Tommy and Marvin, were bought by son Gregor to protect the disabled man and keep him company.

Mr Brown said the breed didn't deserve its bad name, and he feared his dogs might be destroyed. "They keep me company, I love having them around. I miss them already and just want them home."

Family friend Lyn Pow said the Lowes believed the attack was an unfortunate accident and did not want to press charges.

Sgt Mick Knight of Werribee police said when he arrived at the scene, one of the dogs was extremely aggressive and had lunged at officers as they tried to get to Mr Lowe.

Sgt Knight said he was forced to use capsicum spray as Mr Lowe lay in great pain with no one able to help him.

Wyndham Council has impounded the dogs, which now face being destroyed.

Agriculture Minister Bob Cameron urged people with pit bulls to seriously consider having them put down, particularly if they're living with children or elderly people.

"More people are attacked by their own dogs, or dogs they know such as neighbours', than by dogs they don't know," he said.

Mr Cameron said new laws would force owners to desex their dogs before they were allowed to re-register them with councils in April.

Councils now also have the power to destroy unregistered pit bulls.

The mother of the toddler mauled to death by a dingo cross had returned to her home town only a month before, after splitting from the girl's father.

The tragedy on the NSW far south coast on Tuesday deepened yesterday as background details emerged of her mother, Karen Bobbin.

Ms Bobbin, in her early 20s, had been living with her partner in Canberra for the past two years and had given birth to a boy six weeks ago.

But only two weeks after his birth, she separated from the children's father and returned to Nullica, 12km south of Eden, where her parents own a farm with some cattle on Towanda Rd.

This is where the dingo cross, a working dog at the farm, bit Nataya on the neck about midday on Tuesday.

The little girl was treated by ambulance officers and taken to Pambula hospital where she died on arrival.