THE 79-year-old Swan Hill woman who was viciously attacked by a dog two weeks ago has spoken out, saying local dog owners need to be more aware of their pets’ potential for violence.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, spent a week in Bendigo Base Hospital being treated for critical injuries to her hands, arms and wrists sustained when she was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier on Friday, October 16.
The woman was watering her garden when the Staffy escaped from a nearby yard and first attacked the woman’s eight year old Jack Russell Maltese Shitzu cross, then, when the woman tried to rescue her animal, turning on her.
“I was sitting there and the hose was going and I was bleeding. I was sitting in pink blood and I was saturated,” she said.
“My left forearm was pulled out like a flap, there are a few nibbles and tooth marks in there too, my left hand has a jaw mark around the thumb.
“My right hand has huge lacerations on the top of the hand, the wrist is broken and a tendon has been pulled out.”
Six weeks of rehabilitation now await the woman, who may face permanent loss of movement and flexibility in her wrist and fingers.
Despite her ordeal she says she feels no animosity for the owners of the dog that attacked her and simply wants the community to be more mindful of the proper requirements for dog owners in town.
For more on this story pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (October 28).
