Neighbour’s heroism revealed as 2yo girl recovers from dog attack

A Corio man’s efforts to prise a rottweiler off a toddler to save her life have been revealed, as details emerge of a dog-on-dog attack just hours earlier.

A witness to a horrific dog attack has told how a neighbour repeatedly kicked a vicious rottweiler in a desperate bid to save a toddler’s life in Corio.

The child, who is understood to be a two-year old girl, was rushed to Geelong University Hospital on Wednesday with serious lower-body injuries following the horrific dog attack on Cloverdale Drive.

She was then transferred to Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and is now in a stable condition.

The Geelong Advertiser can reveal a neighbour rushed to the girl’s aid after he heard the child crying for help. The man emerged from his home to find the animal had attacking the child’s lower body.

Dog attack in Cloverdale Dr, Corio on Wednesday.

“The kid was in the air and the dog was latched on,” another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, told the Geelong Advertiser.

She said the man had to kick the dog “four or five times in the head” in order to rescue the toddler.

He then repeatedly kicked the dog again after the animal turned on him and his son when he rescued the girl.

Paramedics were called to the street about 5.30pm as neighbours tried to comfort the crying child.

Animal management officers from the City of Greater Geelong also attended the scene.

“The ambulance took a while [to arrive], it seemed like forever,” the neighbour said.

“Everyone was trying to help, but just didn’t know what to do … the poor kid was just in shock.”

The whole incident, she added, “was pretty horrific ….my family is really traumatised.”

It is understood the dog belongs to a friend of the child’s mother and she had been minding the animal since last Sunday.

The rottweiler is now being held at a City of Greater Geelong council facility in the wake of the attack.

Under state legislation, local councils can authorise to put down a dog if it is involved in an attack on a person or another animal.

“A dog is now being held at one of our facilities pending further investigation,” City Services director Guy Wilson-Browne said.

“We will be speaking to witnesses of the incident and gathering further information.”

The council added that it is preparing a new domestic animal management plan, which will guide how it manages cats and dogs in the region.

The draft plan calls for all dog attacks and related incidents to be reported to council, and for canine safety education programs to be rolled out in schools.

In the Greater Geelong region, there were 31 successful prosecutions for dog attacks in the 2019-2020 financial year, but only five in the following fiscal period due to coronavirus-related court delays.

Police at the scene on Wednesday.

It follows a dog attack at North Shore’s Moorpanyal Park on Wednesday, in which two Staffordshire terriers set upon a border collie, which was on a lead at the time.

Sandy Lee, the owner of the border collie Boyd, took to social media to tell of the terrifying attack about 4pm.

Ms Lee said the attack left serious wounds to her border collie’s neck, which will require further surgery

“These injuries my dog sustained are horrific,” Ms Lee said.

“The vet said if he wasn’t so fluffy, with so much fur around his neck, he would have most likely been killed.”

Ms Lee urged the owner of the Staffordshire terriers to come forward and “acknowledge how horrific this was for my three children to witness and to contribute to the medical bills.”

Originally published as Neighbour’s heroism revealed as 2yo girl recovers from dog attack