Dangerous breeds 'should all be shot'

Jayden Taggart, with mother Carley Ludlow, puts on a brave face inside the childrens ward at Dunedin Hospital, while recovering from a dog attack which required surgeons to reattach part of his left ear. Photo / Gerard OBrien.

The mother of an 8-year-old Dunedin boy whose ear was ripped in half when he was mauled by a dog says dangerous breeds "should all be shot".

Carley Ludlow (31) was speaking to the Otago Daily Times the day after her son, Jayden Taggart, had half his left ear ripped off by a Staffordshire bull terrier inside a Wakari home on Friday night.

Miss Ludlow said her son and his father were visiting the home of family friends when the attack occurred about 8.45pm.

Jayden's father witnessed the attack and pulled the dog off, fishing the torn ear out of the dog's mouth before rushing his son to Dunedin Hospital by car immediately after the attack, she said.

Doctors managed to reattach the ear during surgery lasting several hours, and a battered but grinning Jayden on Saturday told the Otago Daily Times his injuries were "not that sore" and he still did not fear dogs.

He needed about 60 stitches to reattach his left ear and close puncture wounds on his face, right ear, shoulder, arm and hand following the attack, and could not remember much after the incident.

"Just a dog bit my ear," was all he could recall, he said.

The dog - a 5-year-old named Chaos - was destroyed on Saturday morning, after the owner agreed to hand over the animal to Dunedin City Council animal control staff.

Miss Ludlow said the incident showed Staffordshire bull terriers and other breeds, such as pit bulls, "should all be shot".

"If people continue to have them, then they can kiss their kids goodbye."

However, Miss Ludlow and the dog's owner disagreed about whether the attack was unprovoked.

Miss Ludlow said her son had been lying on a bed when the dog "just jumped up and started mauling him", while the woman who owned the dog - who would not be named - said Jayden had been "tormenting" the animal that day.

"He's a good dog. He was neutered. It was just a freak accident and I'm extremely sorry about what happened to Jayden," the owner said.

The attack had been "very quick" and left all those involved in shock, she said.

They had agreed to have the dog destroyed rather than risk a similar attack happening again, even though she and her own children were "gutted" at the loss of their family pet, the owner said.

Miss Ludlow said her son was "doing OK" despite his injuries, and it appeared circulation was returning to his reattached ear.

She did not blame the dog's owner and did not want further action taken by police "as long as the dog's dead".

Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken said police were still investigating the "pretty nasty" attack, and no decision about charges had yet been made.

Council animal control team leader Ros MacGill said there was no record of any other aggressive behaviour by the dog, and the owners had been "very co-operative" in handing over the animal to be destroyed.

The attack was "a very unfortunate" reminder to keep children safe from excitable or dominant dogs, she said. ]

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES