Dog pack mauls preschoolers

A pre-schooler has 20 puncture wounds after she was attacked by a pack of dogs.

The little girl was one of two children out walking with a Rotorua childcare teacher yesterday, when four dogs burst through a fence.

Rotorua District Council senior animal control officer Kevin Coutts said the unprovoked dog attack was the worst he had seen in five years.

The trio was attacked by a pack of four dogs around 11am while on their daily walk from the Waiohewa Kohanga Reo to a field across the road.

Mr Coutts said the two male dogs, including a labrador-mastiff cross and a bull terrier cross, and two cross-breed female dogs left their property through a fence and set upon the children and the woman.

He said the teacher picked up the children and tried her best to keep the dogs away from them, she got knocked over but still tried to cover them with her body.

"The teacher probably deserves a medal," Mr Coutts said.

Mr Coutts said a little girl suffered close to 20 puncture wounds to different parts of her body and grazes, a young boy received grazing and a few punctures that will need stitches, while the teacher suffered wounds to her leg.

"It could've been a lot worse, she's a very brave woman," he said.

All four dogs have been handed over to animal control and will be destroyed.

Mr Coutts said it was the worst dog attack he had seen in Rotorua in the last five years.

He said it was up to the owners to be responsible and to make sure their animals could not harm anyone.

"If these dogs had been under control of the owner, if they had been in an enclosure, if they had been tied up, these dogs would not have been capable of going and attacking those children," he said.

"When you have dogs and irresponsible owners, there are unfortunately going to be attacks."

The owner of one of the male dogs, Ron Te Kiri, said he arrived home from work on Wednesday evening to be informed by his neighbours his dog, Jojo, had been involved in the pack attack.

"I'm shocked. These are all placid dogs. This is so sad for the whole whanau around here. The kids play with these dogs all the time," he said.

He was baffled by the entire incident but thought the female dog, who had recently given birth to a litter, was probably protecting her pups.

"I can't understand this but then you can't trust any pitbull breed. I think the mother was probably guarding her puppies, though," he said.

The owners of the other three dogs were distressed and didn't wish to comment on the incident.

Two other dogs still remain at the property.

Helen Crawford, the manager of the childhood centre, said she was proud of the way her staff handled the situation and doubted they could have done anything to prevent the attack.

"The dogs just came out of nowhere. Totally out of our control," Mrs Crawford said.

The attack has left staff devastated.

"How can you stop an attacking dog? Everyone in the centre is absolutely shattered by it," she said.

The incident has been reported to police, animal control and the Ministry of Education and Mrs Crawford believes she has done everything possible to deal with it.

She said the parents took the children to hospital and both victims had since been discharged.

"The children are fine now," she said.

Meanwhile, the Far North District Council is considering beefing up its dog bylaws after a Kaikohe boy was attacked by an american pitbull on Monday.

The 9-year-old received serious injuries to his upper body in the attack and was taken to a local medical centre and then transferred to the Whangarei Hospital for further treatment.

He was released from hospital on Wednesday, but it's understood he may need further cosmetic surgery.

The boy's guardian did not want to speak to the media.

Far North District Council animal control officers found and detained the dog within 20 minutes of the attack.

The dog was being held in a secure pound. Investigations were continuing, and a prosecution could follow.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)