Baby girl seriously injured after being bitten by a dog
A mother who fought to save her baby daughter from a greyhound attack in Cranbourne West was in so much shock she refused treatment for her own bite wounds, according to a neighbour who rushed to their aid.
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A mother who fought to save her baby daughter from a greyhound attack was in so much shock she refused treatment for her own bite wounds, a neighbour who rushed to their aid says.
The young girl suffered upper body injuries and was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital after being mauled by the dog in the backyard of a Cranbourne West home on Saturday morning.
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The mum, in her 30s, was bitten on the leg and initially declined to let paramedics treat her before she was also taken to hospital.
“All she cared about was helping her daughter,” the next door neighbour said.
“Her main concern was that little one. It took a little bit of convincing for her to get treatment.”
The woman suffered lower body injuries and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
She was on Saturday night in a stable condition. The girl was in a serious condition.
The greyhound attack happened about 9.15am in the backyard of a house in Raisell Rd in Melbourne’s southeast.
It’s understood the father trains greyhounds and the dogs live in a shed in an empty block adjacent to their backyard.
The dog had somehow escaped the enclosure and set upon the baby girl before the mother intervened.
“It’s just a freak thing,” the neighbour, who asked not be named, said.
“It was pretty traumatic. I didn’t see the daughter but the mother was fairly badly bitten.”
The neighbour said the mother was with the daughter in the yard when the dog attack happened.
The father was at work at the time, he said.
“This is a difficult for him. It’s bad. He’s got to get through this, going between two different hospitals. It will be a while before they get over this.”
He said the dog was owned by another man but trained by the father who kept multiple dogs in a Colorbond shed out the back.
The dog responsible for the horror attack was removed from the home by council animal rangers on Saturday.
City of Casey said in a statement the council was investigating the serious incident.
“The dog has been removed from the scene and taken to the pound,” safer communities manager Caroline Bell said.
“Our thoughts are with the families during this difficult time,” she said.
The neighbour said he first realised there had been a serious incident when he saw a MICA paramedic in his driveway and ran over to help. He said he didn’t hear the dog attack.
“It was just a usual Saturday morning hearing the girls outside playing.”
The family has two girls, the young girl that was injured and another daughter aged about 5 or 6.
“They’re great people, a lovely young family, brilliant parents. When we see them out on the street they’re always friendly. Everyone is just concerned about their recovery, we’re thinking of all four of them.”
Other neighbours confirmed they had seen multiple greyhounds at the property, which were sometimes transported on a trailer.
Neighbour Max Emile said he heard dogs barking at the property at all hours and describe the noise as a “howling”. He said that had been going on for the past three years since the family moved in.