Scott Pepper, Lacey Pepper call for action after beloved cavoodle savagely killed by pit bull terrier

A fundraiser has been set up for the family of a beloved cavoodle after it was killed in a savage dog attack, leaving them heartbroken and $20,000 out of pocket. Read how you can help

Friends of a Biggera Waters family who lost their beloved cavoodle in a savage dog attack, have set up an online fundraiser to go towards their vet bills - which have climbed above $20,000.

Lola, beloved five-year-old pet of the Pepper family, suffered catastrophic wounds when a grey American pit bull attacked her while she was on her usual morning walk on Monday.

“We’ve had Lola for five and half years and have taken her for that same walk on Hollywell Rd every day,” Scott Pepper said.

But at 5.50am on Monday, as Lola happily trotted on her lead next to her owner, neither could know it would be the last time they shared the journey.

From behind a line of wheelie bins, the attacking dog sprung.

Little Lola never stood a chance against the relentless attack.

Scott and Lacey Pepper's cavoodle Lola was killed in a dog attack at Biggera Waters.

“I picked up a bin and was whacking the dog, but it kept coming,” Mr Pepper said.

“A man in a car pulled over to help – then it came back and it was circling me.

“If it wasn’t for the wheelie bin, she would have been dead and I would have been in hospital.

“I got away, looked around and Lola was gone.”

A member of the public found the Peppers’ precious pet broken, bloodied and cowering under the wheel of a car at a nearby service station, and took her to the vet.

“She had broken ribs, ruptured lungs, a tear in her heart – she had to have her gall bladder removed,” said Mr Pepper’s daughter Lacey, 21.

“There were six bite marks in her abdomen.”

Cavoodle Lola at the vet after being attacked by a savage dog.

Despite vets doing everything they could to save Lola, she succumbed to shock early on Tuesday.

“We’re just devastated,” Mr Pepper said.

“I work at home so she would sit on my lap while I was working – she was just like a human being.

“It’s just awful because you come home and she’d usually be there. Going to the vet to say goodbye this morning …”

In an effort to ease some of the Peppers’ significant and unexpected financial pain, friends Kelly Webster and Lesley Morgan have set up a Gofundme fundraiser.

“Our friend Scott is the kind of good human who’d do anything for a friend in need,” it said.

“Today, he needs help and we want to pay his kindness forward.”

Scott Pepper with cavoodle Lola.

Lacey Pepper with Lola.

Accompanying the pair’s devastation, and mammoth vet bill, is anger that a dog with such a propensity for unprovoked violence was permitted to be kept in their suburb – let alone allowed to roam free.

The owner of the dog, believed to be a grey American pitbull terrier, did not answer the door when Ms Pepper knocked.

“We lost her, but we didn’t lose her – she was taken from us,” Ms Pepper said.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure that dog doesn’t hurt anyone else if I have to.

“It could have been a child who was killed.

“The Gold Coast City Council officers came out but they said we won’t find out the outcome.

“That’s not good enough.”

SEQ dog attack hotspots
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On Friday the council said investigations into the incident were still under way.

“Animal management inspectors are in contact with all parties and providing them with updates,” a council statement said.

“Once investigations are complete, a determination will be made and all parties informed.”

Ms Pepper said council officer told her they had been satisifed the offending dog was properly contained.

“I can’t understand, it if was a human, it would have been put down,” she said.

“If it wasn’t for bystanders, I could have been mourning my dad as well as Lola because it went for him too.

“I’ve contacted the police and they said there was nothing they could do.

“It’s just absolutely disgusting, but the support we’ve had from the community has been amazing.”

Lacey Pepper and her father Scott Pepper are devastated after their cavoodle Lola was killed by a savage dog.

Mayor Tom Tate, whose own American Bulldog Jaidee was involved in a fight with a small dog five years ago, said dog owners should be held accountable.

“I think the one thing that people change attitude (for) is the hip pocket,” he said on Wednesday.

“If you hit the hip pocket a bit harder, people think a bit harder about having their dogs off leash, especially big ones.

“We’ll be reviewing it at the next budget.”

The city last year increased fines by up to four times for owners who fail to control aggressive pets.

Residents who have a vicious animal which attacks another person or animal causing injuries will cop a $774 fine.

Failure to keep a dog under effective control will cost owners $619 – four times as much as before.

Lacey Pepper and her father Scott Pepper are devastated after their cavoodle Lola was killed by a savage dog.

Lola as a puppy.

New laws have also been proposed by the state government come after a spate of horrific attacks, including the death of an Energex meter reader as well as the mauling of two small children.

A baby was injured in an unprovoked attack by a roaming dog at Hope Island late last year.

Owners could face penalties of up to $100,000 or up to three years in jail in the most serious cases under the laws and five breeds, including American pit bull terriers and pit bull terriers would be banned completely.

Queensland is the only state in the country which doesn’t include imprisonment as a maximum penalty for the most serious of dog attacks.

“Every time I close my eyes, I replay the attack and think what I could have done differently,” an emotional Mr Pepper said.

“It’s really traumatised me.”

Originally published as Scott Pepper, Lacey Pepper call for action after beloved cavoodle savagely killed by pit bull terrier