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202152
Thu, 08/18/2011 - 14:27
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http://m.oananews.org//node/202152
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Girl clung to mum's leg as dog attacked
MELBOURNE (AAP) - A four-year-old girl was clinging to her mother's leg as she was mauled to death by a pit bull mastiff dog which ran into their house.
Ayen Chol, described by her mother as an artistic and talkative girl, was watching television with several other children when the dog chased her cousin into the Melbourne home and attacked the little girl.
A neighbour said he rushed for help after the girl's mother ran from the St Albans house screaming,"My daughter's getting attacked by a dog" shortly after 8pm on Wednesday.
Ayen died at the scene, while her 30-year-old cousin and another five-year-old cousin both suffered injuries.
Her visibly distressed mother Jaclin Appok was surrounded by members of the Sudanese community at a relative's home on Thursday.
Through an interpreter she described her daughter as "a very artistic girl, she loved to draw and she talked a lot".
Ms Appok was too distressed to speak about what happened.
Daniel Atem, a cousin of the victim, said Ayen's 30-year-old cousin was outside the house in Melbourne's northwest when the dog came at her and chased her inside.
Mr Atem said the neighbour's dog initially attacked the five-year-old girl and as Ayen's mother intervened, the dog then attacked Ayen, who was clinging on to her mother's leg.
"It (the dog) pulled the child from the mum ... the daughter died, the dog left the child and then the owner of the dog came after that and took the dog out," Mr Atem said.
He said Ayen's father, who is working in southern Sudan, has been contacted and was returning home.
"He's very, very, very sad. The elders' community in southern Sudan will counsel him," Mr Atem said.
The family arrived in Australia as refugees in 2004 and were living at their cousins' house in St Albans after their own home recently burned down.
Police said the dog was an American pit bull mastiff cross whose owners have agreed for it to be put down.
The Victorian government says dog owners whose pets kill people should face consequences similar to culpable drivers, who can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years.
"These types of dogs have lost their right to exist in Victoria," The Nationals deputy leader Peter Walsh told reporters on Thursday.
American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia president Colin Muir agreed that owners needed to be responsible but said the breed of dog was not an issue.
"A breed doesn't do these things, an individual dog does, and it's irrelevant what the breed is," Mr Muir told AAP.
"Owners need to wake up to themselves and the reality is they just don't."
He said no dog of any breed was safe to be left unattended with children.
Mr Muir said less than one per cent of dog attacks in Victoria were attributed to pit bulls.
It's believed the dog escaped from a neighbour's home across the road in Lahy Street, St Albans.
A neighbour, who did not want to give his name, said he had never seen the dog in the street before and that the dog's owner was "devastated" by the attack.
Police have been speaking to the owners.
Meanwhile, the local municipal council says there had been no complaints about the dog that mauled a four-year-old girl to death in suburban Melbourne.
Brimbank City Council chair of administrators Peter Lewinsky said a council ranger seized the dog and gave it to police.
"The dog will be handed over to the council at the conclusion of the police investigation and will be put down," Mr Lewinsky said in a statement on Thursday.
"The dog was not registered with council and records indicate that no complaints had been received about this particular animal."
Mr Lewinsky said further testing was underway to confirm the exact breed of the dog that killed Ayen.
Brimbank chief executive Nick Foa said the council was working with police and the Department of Human Services to provide support to the family.
He said in addition to any charges that police may choose to lay, the council has the power to charge the owner with breaking regulations including failure to register and dog attack.
"This attack is a graphic reminder of why all members of the community need to take responsibility for their animals, with council and why the registration of animals is so important."
There are around 240 dogs on the dangerous dogs register, including 42 in Brimbank Council.
Dogs on the register, which have been trained to attack or have been involved in a previous attack, can be euthanased if they are found wandering.
Ayen Chol, described by her mother as an artistic and talkative girl, was watching television with several other children when the dog chased her cousin into the Melbourne home and attacked the little girl.
A neighbour said he rushed for help after the girl's mother ran from the St Albans house screaming,"My daughter's getting attacked by a dog" shortly after 8pm on Wednesday.
Ayen died at the scene, while her 30-year-old cousin and another five-year-old cousin both suffered injuries.
Her visibly distressed mother Jaclin Appok was surrounded by members of the Sudanese community at a relative's home on Thursday.
Through an interpreter she described her daughter as "a very artistic girl, she loved to draw and she talked a lot".
Ms Appok was too distressed to speak about what happened.
Daniel Atem, a cousin of the victim, said Ayen's 30-year-old cousin was outside the house in Melbourne's northwest when the dog came at her and chased her inside.
Mr Atem said the neighbour's dog initially attacked the five-year-old girl and as Ayen's mother intervened, the dog then attacked Ayen, who was clinging on to her mother's leg.
"It (the dog) pulled the child from the mum ... the daughter died, the dog left the child and then the owner of the dog came after that and took the dog out," Mr Atem said.
He said Ayen's father, who is working in southern Sudan, has been contacted and was returning home.
"He's very, very, very sad. The elders' community in southern Sudan will counsel him," Mr Atem said.
The family arrived in Australia as refugees in 2004 and were living at their cousins' house in St Albans after their own home recently burned down.
Police said the dog was an American pit bull mastiff cross whose owners have agreed for it to be put down.
The Victorian government says dog owners whose pets kill people should face consequences similar to culpable drivers, who can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years.
"These types of dogs have lost their right to exist in Victoria," The Nationals deputy leader Peter Walsh told reporters on Thursday.
American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia president Colin Muir agreed that owners needed to be responsible but said the breed of dog was not an issue.
"A breed doesn't do these things, an individual dog does, and it's irrelevant what the breed is," Mr Muir told AAP.
"Owners need to wake up to themselves and the reality is they just don't."
He said no dog of any breed was safe to be left unattended with children.
Mr Muir said less than one per cent of dog attacks in Victoria were attributed to pit bulls.
It's believed the dog escaped from a neighbour's home across the road in Lahy Street, St Albans.
A neighbour, who did not want to give his name, said he had never seen the dog in the street before and that the dog's owner was "devastated" by the attack.
Police have been speaking to the owners.
Meanwhile, the local municipal council says there had been no complaints about the dog that mauled a four-year-old girl to death in suburban Melbourne.
Brimbank City Council chair of administrators Peter Lewinsky said a council ranger seized the dog and gave it to police.
"The dog will be handed over to the council at the conclusion of the police investigation and will be put down," Mr Lewinsky said in a statement on Thursday.
"The dog was not registered with council and records indicate that no complaints had been received about this particular animal."
Mr Lewinsky said further testing was underway to confirm the exact breed of the dog that killed Ayen.
Brimbank chief executive Nick Foa said the council was working with police and the Department of Human Services to provide support to the family.
He said in addition to any charges that police may choose to lay, the council has the power to charge the owner with breaking regulations including failure to register and dog attack.
"This attack is a graphic reminder of why all members of the community need to take responsibility for their animals, with council and why the registration of animals is so important."
There are around 240 dogs on the dangerous dogs register, including 42 in Brimbank Council.
Dogs on the register, which have been trained to attack or have been involved in a previous attack, can be euthanased if they are found wandering.
