Woman, 71, attacked in the street by savage ‘pit bull type’ terrier needed skin grafts
An elderly Springvale woman savagely mauled by a neighbour’s pit bull cross dog needed skin grafts, and spent two weeks in hospital.
South East
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A 71-year-old woman was viciously mauled by a neighbour’s savage dog after she tripped on the street.
The American Staffordshire cross pit bull terrier was in the care of a teenage boy when it struck, violently biting the woman on her legs causing a large, gaping calf wound.
Neighbours heard her screaming and rang an ambulance.
The ferocity of the assault was so bad it was described by a council prosecutor at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court yesterday as the most serious attack she had seen.
The woman, who is a carer for her 99-year-old blind mother, spent nearly two weeks in Dandenong Hospital having surgery, and now struggles to be able to walk properly.
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Chanraksa Heng, 18 of Springvale, pleaded guilty to five local law charges.
The court heard at about 4.30pm on December 16 last year the woman was home watching TV when she heard scratching on her front security door.
She saw two dogs — both tan and white American Staffordshire terriers — trying to get inside.
As she knew they belonged to her neighbour, she started to walk to his house to tell him they were loose.
She made it to the centre of the road before the older dog, named Caesar, lunged at her left leg, biting it and causing it to bleed.
She turned to run but tripped and fell, and the horror hound then attacked her other leg, ripping the skin apart and causing “a great big gash”.
She managed to get back inside her house and neighbours rushed to her aid.
She was hospitalised for 13 days and had suffered a large, deep calf wound requiring skin grafts from her thigh, as well as nerve damage and bruising.
The dog was seized, and 22 days later was euthanised. Neither dog was registered with the council.
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Heng, who was meant to be looking after the two dogs while his sister was overseas, told council officers he let them go out into the street without being on leads when he was taking the bins out.
In court the student said he was sorry for the attack and accepted he should have been more responsible.
Magistrate Greg Connellan said the images of the injuries, which he wouldn’t release to the media as they were so graphic, were “rather disturbing”.
But he said this was Heng’s only offence, he was young, and as he had no means to pay a large financial penalty, he could do community work instead.
Heng was given a six-month community corrections order, must do 48 hours of unpaid work and pay council costs of $1180. No conviction was recorded.
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