Newcastle boy recovering after dog mauling

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy has had to have his ear surgically reattached after he was dragged from his bicycle by a Great Dane.

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy who was torn from his bike and dragged by a Great Dane almost double his size has had his ear surgically reattached.

Tom Higgins was riding his bike and collecting cans for recycling with his family in Newcastle on Tuesday evening when the dog escaped through an open gate, biting his neck and ear.

The young boy underwent surgery at John Hunter Children’s Hospital on Wednesday and police say the dog is likely to be destroyed following a council investigation. The child remains in hospital in a stable condition.

Tom Higgins was attacked on Tuesday. Picture: Channel Ten

He is now in a stable condition. Picture: Channel Ten

Tom was the third child in just four days to be savagely mauled by pet dogs in Australia — leading to calls for new guidelines for owners and bans on dangerous breeds.

The first attack came on Saturday. One-year-old Kamillah Jones was in a stroller in the NSW town of Inverell when a Rottweiler attacked her.

She was rushed to Inverell District Hospital in an ambulance, but her injuries were so severe she couldn’t be saved.

There was another attack on Sunday, this time in Melbourne, where a 10-year-old girl was seriously injured.

That attack happened while her parents were reportedly at the gym.

When speaking about the attack in Newcastle, NSW Police’s Detective Acting Inspector Jeffrey Little said the owners of any dog that attacks a person are liable.

However, the Great Dane’s owners said the canine simply does not like bikes, the Seven Network reported.

It is likely that the dog will be destroyed, say police. Picture: Channel Ten

Gisela Kaplan, emeritus professor in animal behaviour at the University of New England, said any unwanted growling at visitors should cause dog owners to be alarmed.

“The owner has to establish a loving relationship but one that makes it clear the owner is top dog and whatever that owner says goes,” Professor Kaplan told AAP.

“They have no right, if a visitor comes to the house, to even bark once or growl once.

“That means they feel it’s their territory and they (the visitor) are invading it — and then they’ve got the wrong idea.”

Prof Kaplan, who is also a dog breeder, said dogs need obedience training and owners must learn to read their pet’s “signals”.

“People acquire dogs as though they are extended toys, meaning they are not meant to have a personality of their own, they’re just meant to be cute,” she said.

“But dogs are as complex, probably, as humans. Almost all misbehaviour by dogs is the result of human error.”

There were 2547 dog attacks on people reported to NSW councils in the year to September 2017, resulting in 148 hospitalisations.

— With AAP