Warrior family heartbroken as their dog Colicchie to be euthanised after violent attack
The family of the late Charlene Warrior has said a heartbreaking final goodbye to a pet that once belonged to her after it turned on family members.
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The family of the late Charlene Warrior have hugged her beloved pet dog one last time before he was euthanised for a violent attack earlier this week.
On Tuesday night, emergency services were called to the Warrior family’s home in Brompton after reports of an animal attack.
Two people remain in hospital and Charles Sturt Council rangers have seized the pet and will euthanise it.
However, the family says they didn’t think he was capable of such carnage.
Charlene was 21 when she went missing in the small town of Bute, about two hours north of Adelaide, after going to pick up her daughter from her former partner’s home.
Her death, which was ruled a suicide, is one of six cases investigated in The Advertiser’s groundbreaking Dying Rose podcast series.
Her family last heard from her on September 20, 2021 – three days after she left home.
Two weeks later, authorities found Charlene’s body hanging in a tree within sight of the search staging area.
On Thursday afternoon, Charlene’s youngest sister Theresa said her final goodbyes to her late sister’s beloved Shar Pei-pitbull cross, Colicchie.
“It’s so unfair. He’s usually a gentle giant,” she said, confirming he had been put down by the council.
Earlier in the day, Theresa and her older sister Lena Warrior said despite the blood trail left in their home, their dog Colicchie was one of the last pieces they had of their beloved sister.
“He’s a loving dog. He lived with us for eight years,” Theresa said.
“I’m 21 and we got him when I was 14.
“He was Charlene’s dog too. It’s so hard to come to terms with because he was hers.”
Theresa and Lena said they knew the attack at their home was terrible, but felt like they were losing a part of their late sister by losing Colicchie.
“She loved him too. It feels like we’re losing another part of her,” Theresa said.
“She was part of his life and that’s why it’s so hard on all of us to let him go. He was Charlene’s.”
Lena said their beloved Colicchie was a “very good boy” and the attack was a “one-off.”
“One thing just set him off, it was a one-off thing,” Lena, who was at home when the outburst occurred, said.
She said when the incident happened, another family member was yelling and “he maybe felt like he needed to attack”.
“He’s the kind of dog who doesn’t like anger or violence, he gets scared and hides,” Theresa said.
“He’s got protective instincts, they must have taken over.
“He was a very good boy – even if he got out of the yard, he wouldn’t attack anyone or bark at anyone. He’d just come back. He was so friendly.”
The family got Colicchie in 2015 when an uncle arrived at their property with the dog.
“As soon as I saw him, I fell in love with him,” Theresa said.
“When I would cry, he’d just lay there with me.
“The way he’s been reported on doesn’t talk about the good side of him. I understand it was bad, but he was just scared.”
Lena said another family member from interstate had been home at the time of the attack but Colicchie wasn’t familiar with her.
“She doesn’t really know the dog, and he doesn’t know her. He’s used to being patted by us all the time so I just think maybe he was scared about having people he didn’t really know,” she said.
SA Ambulance Service said a male and female were transported to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Tuesday evening with hand and upper arm injuries, which reportedly required surgery.
The two people, who were a brother and sister of Charlene’s, remain in hospital.
“They are both going okay and are in recovery,” Theresa said.
The Charles Sturt Council spokeswoman has said the council was investigating the attack.
“The dog was impounded by CCS Community Safety After Hours Contractors, under the direction of our Senior Community Safety Officer,” she said.
On Thursday, she said the dog would be euthanised.
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