Mother mauled by dog

Tania Potter needed plastic surgery after being attacked by the ridgeback. Picture / Richard Robinson

There was just one thought going through Tania Potter's mind as a crazed dog latched onto her face and pulled her to the ground.

"To be really honest, I was just glad that it was me and not my son."

The Hamilton woman had been on her way to warn neighbours about the dog, a tan-coloured ridgeback with a white patch on its chest, when she was attacked on Wednesday morning.

Mrs Potter said she first noticed the dog earlier in the morning while she was walking her 5-year-old son Pacey to kindergarten.

"I walked past a long driveway down my street and this dog started going for me and my son.

"I said to my son 'keep still, that dog wants to attack us'."

While the pair froze, the dog's attention shifted to a cat that was walking past.

The dog chased the cat, allowing Mrs Potter and her son to continue.

At kindergarten she rang animal control, which immediately went in search of the dog but was unable to find it.

In the meantime, Mrs Potter decided to warn her neighbours because she was worried about the safety of their school-aged children.

"As I walking down the driveway the dog came from nowhere and took me down by my face."

Alerted by her screams the neighbours rushed outside and pulled the dog from her.

In that short time Mrs Potter's lip had been ripped open and a chunk torn out.

Her cheek was also punctured.

"It was trying to go for my throat. If it wasn't for my neighbours who heard me screaming it would have been a lot worse.

"It had already taken me down by my face and it was looking for other places to bite. [My neighbour] just kept pulling it off me and it kept going back for me."

Mrs Potter was driven to a medical clinic then taken to hospital where she underwent plastic surgery on her lip.

She was yesterday resting at home with at least 18 stitches on the outside of her mouth and nearly as many inside.

Animal control continued searching for the dog and have informed local schools and kindergartens not to let children walk home on their own.

Mrs Potter said three cats in the neighbourhood had been mauled in the past few weeks and she believed the dog that attacked her was responsible. Her fear now is that the dog will attack again and the next time it will be a child.

She is urging members of the public to report any sightings of the dog. She is also appealing to the owners - if it has any - to put it down.

"If it has attacked an adult, next it's going to be a small child. Can they live with their conscience if it kills a child?"

Can you help?
Have you seen the dog? Contact Hamilton City Council's Animal Care team on (07) 838 6632.