Girl Mauled by Family Dog in Australia

A seven-year-old Sydney girl was mauled by her own family dog. She has suffered severe wounds.

A seven-year-old Sydney girl was mauled by her own family dog Wednesday. She has suffered severe wounds.

Police said the dog, a restricted breed Staffordshire-cross pit bull, attacked the girl in the backyard of her Pank Parade home at Blacktown, biting her several times and dislocating her shoulder.

But for the timely intervention of a concerned neighbour, something worse might have befallen her.

An ambulance spokesman said paramedics found her with bite wounds "across the chest and down the flank, under the arm".

Her condition in the hospital is stable, but serious.

Lydia was attacked while visiting her father’s house during the school holidays.

The girl’s father, however, said nobody was to blame for the attack, but his pet of two months, named Sargeant, would be "put down".

"The dog was in the backyard eating, and my daughter probably just go there, play with the dog food, and the dog just probably snapped," he told the Seven Network.

"It’s a good dog, never attack anyone, hardly bark.

"It’s not anyone’s fault, you know."

Luke Logan, whose mother-in-law lives next door to Lydia’s father, said he climbed the fence as soon as he realised the girl was being attacked.

"It was scary at first but I wasn’t worried about me, I just wanted to get her out of there," he told Network Ten.

Neighbour Anne Stewart was close to tears as she described the attack.

"She was on the ground, the dog had her pinned down, it was just like a rag doll," Stewart told the network.

"I ran inside, I’m screaming, ’Get the dog off her, get Lydia’, because the dog was killing her."

The dog was impounded by Blacktown Council officers.

"We’ve seized the dog and it’s in our animal holding facility," a council spokeswoman said.

Police said it was likely the dog would be destroyed.

Pit bulls, and any dogs crossed with them, have been restricted under NSW law since 2006, news agency AAP reports.

It has been illegal since then to sell, give away, acquire or breed them but anyone who already owned a pit bull when the law came into effect was allowed to keep it under strict conditions.

Under those conditions, all restricted dogs must be kept in an enclosure when at home, be kept muzzled and on a leash when outside of their enclosures, and always be supervised by an adult.

Council officers are still to determine if any of the restrictions were breached.

But police said the girl’s father was at home at the time of the attack.

Source-Medindia
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