Carlina Ericson opens up on horror Coffs Harbour dog attack story

A Coffs woman has described the “terror” of being repeatedly charged at by a pair of vicious dogs outside her home and having to wedge herself between a door and fly screen as she tried to flee.

Carlina Ericson has described the terror of being bailed up by two large dogs as she tried to get into her house on Gundagai Street after being dropped off in a taxi after a night out with friends.

A Coffs Harbour woman has described the complete “terror” of being repeatedly charged at by a pair of vicious dogs and having to wedge herself between her door and fly screen, as she desperately tried to get inside her home after a night out with friends.

Carlina Ericson had been dropped off by a taxi just after midnight on Friday, November 8.

She lives alone in a townhouse at the end of a long driveway on Gundagai St and has lived there peacefully for the past two years.

After opening her screen door she dropped her keys and when she bent down to pick them up, the dogs were right behind her.

“I didn’t hear anything – they were just there,” she told this masthead.

Security vision from a terrifying dog attack in Coffs Harbour in the early hours of Saturday morning, November 9.

With her back to the closed main door she held the screen door in front of her as they repeatedly took turns charging at her.

She estimates the dogs, which came up to her mid-thigh, did this at least six times as she screamed for help.

“They kept charging and barking and weren’t backing down.

“They could have easily killed me they were that aggressive.”

According to Carlina, the dogs were an American staffy breed – potentially crossed with boxer.

“If these kind of dogs are not highly disciplined and left to run rampant they’re effectively feral.”

Security vision from a terrifying dog attack in Coffs Harbour in the early hours of Saturday morning, November 9.

Eventually a neighbour woken by Carlina’s screams came to her aid and helped scare off the dogs and she was physically uninjured.

“Thankfully a neighbour who is ex-army and his girlfriend – a registered nurse – were able to help me. They could see I was in extreme distress,” she said.

“I went into a state of shock afterwards and just collapsed. The terror of it all was unbelievable and I just sat and cried for a few hours.”

Carlina has warned neighbours to be vigilant including a young couple with an 18-month-old telling them “they could have ripped your baby to shreds”.

Security vision from a terrifying dog attack in Coffs Harbour in the early hours of Saturday morning, November 9.

The dogs’ red/brown colouring and white patches on their chests resembled those she saw in a social media post earlier that day, about two dogs roaming that were taken to a local vet.

She believes the owners may have picked the animals up from the vet but they were able to escape again.

The incident has been reported to the City of Coffs Harbour council and a ranger is investigating.

A spokesman said they would not comment on the matter as the investigation is ongoing and that no data could be provided on the number of attacks in the local government area.

Ms Ericson criticised the handling of the incident, saying she tried for days to get an update.

“The ranger said something like ‘it’s not the only dog attack I’m investigating’ and basically hung up on me.”

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