Earth Changes

Man killed, wife seriously injured after dog attack in Melbourne, Australia

Katie Hill
10 Daily
Wed, 10 Jul 2019 12:47 UTC

A man has been killed, his wife seriously injured after a dog attack in Melbourne's northeast.

Emergency crews were called to a home at Ancona Drive in Mill Park just after 6.30pm on Wednesday night, after reports of a dog attack.

Officers arrived to find the dog, believed to be an American Staffordshire terrier, still attacking the man in the backyard and so they fired a number of shots at the animal.

It's understood the victim had been using a wheelchair and crutches while he recovered from an injury, but was not in a wheelchair at the time of the attack.

He was pulled under the pergola by his wife in an effort to escape the dog, Victoria Police told 10daily.

He couldn't be saved and died at the scene.

The woman, believed to be in her 60's, suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Senior-Sergeant Glenn Parker told reporters at the scene that the dog belonged to the victim's son and had been at the property for some time.

It's understood the dog, which is currently in the hands of rangers, will be put down.

"As a firearm was discharged Professional Standards Command will oversight the investigation and a report will be prepared for the Coroner," Victoria police said in a statement.

Reader Comments

Winternights2 · 2019-07-11T13:54:56Z

Sott editors.

And your point is?

The odd occurrence of a animal attack against a human, and you consider this news worthy.

Time for a editorial change.

IncenDiary · 2019-07-11T18:33:05Z

Winternights2 Been tracking animal attacks on the rise as well last few years, bit harsh much? Maybe you should be editor

Rowan Cocoan · 2019-07-11T21:15:57Z

" Officers arrived to find the dog, believed to be an American Staffordshire terrier, still attacking the man in the backyard and so they fired a number of shots at the animal"

So there's the apparently uninjured dog in the picture who ain't going to the vet for repairs, but to be put down.

Sounds like Australia's cops are about as accurate shooters as the US cops are.

R.C.

Rom · 2019-07-12T06:14:31Z

Here's a comment by a professional dog trainer who's methods I used in training my last dog for competition and who I've followed for over 15 years. Its not unusual for trainers of this calibre to make offers such as this:

Another Australian killed by his own dog, when will it end?

The answer is, it won’t.

Nothing is being done differently than the last time, the story hits the news, we are all up in arms, some blame the breed, others the owner, others blame anything from the diet to if the dog lives inside or not.

Every single time there is a fatality, the offer is made by me to assess the dog’s behaviour for the purpose of diagnosis and then education. Procedures get in the way every time, the dog is euthanised and buried without any testing. This is no different to burying evidence. It’s negligent to not find out why and develop some education as to how these tragedies can be avoided.

Social media has exploded with activity and speculation as it does every time, this story is given 100% attention and people are fighting over why the news article used the picture they did, why the breed is blamed, why was the dog not desexed, why the owner is at fault and many other ridiculous topics, but zero effort into prevention?

Is it the breed?

I read a comment last night that said it was these large powerful breeds that kill people and we have never seen a Labrador do this for example. First, I have worked with a lot of aggressive Golden Retrievers, Labrador’s and other gundogs, they certainly aren’t immune from hurting people. Secondly, I have worked with thousands of Bull Breed dogs and I am clearly not dead, and the ones that I have worked with have often been some of the worst you will see. Thirdly it was suggested that small dogs can’t kill people. Look up the Padderdale terrier on YouTube and think again. Jack Russel’s have killed children in the past too.

Are we just talking about death though? How about if a dog bites a child’s face, removes an eye, cats can do this easily. Dogs are ANIMALS, they only understand what we teach them. Most dogs I see that are highly aggressive lack education, lack structure, lack impulse control and most of all lack leadership.

That is across the board, not just certain breeds. Most dogs that kill someone kill the person they live with; this is not normal for pack animals that are living in harmony. Many people these days will ask me to assess a litter of puppies, I will do this and video the whole thing and discuss with the potential buyer what traits and attributes I can see. Very commonly, when the pup grows up the owner will rave about how their now adult dog is just like I said it would be and I picked this from just 7-week-old puppies and some simple tests.

If I was given the opportunity to assess these dogs that have killed a person, so much can be learned as to why. Let’s suggest an example is that there in this case the incident started over a resource, such as food, space or a toy. Knowing that allows me to explain how serious resource guarding is and what can be done to manage it safely and modify this behaviour. It would help people out there that have a dog that is a resource guarder understand how dangerous this can be and what to do about it now to prevent being hurt or worse.

Regardless of the assessment results, I am not asking the dog to be saved, they can euthanise it then. I am not on the save the dog bandwagon here. Let’s learn and stop burying evidence.

My offer is very simple. I will travel at my own expense to the dog’s location anywhere in Australia. I have my own insurance and will sign any waiver so there can be no legal action if I was hurt. I would make available the full findings to the government and public or just government if that is the issue. If a medical issue is suspected and tests need to be done, I will cover any and all expenses including autopsy if needed.

This is a no-lose offer for our Government. This has the potential to saves lives. Stop the speculation and start investigation as to why these deaths keep happening. You or your child or someone you know could be next.

- Steve Courtney

Rowan Cocoan · 2019-07-12T11:22:16Z

Rom Christ. If the world had more Steve Courtneys in it, it would be a better place.

Of course his offer won't be taken up - and I, for one, believe it's most likely an honest offering from what's presented, for what that's wortth; the reason it won't is that it would tend to take away self-perceived 'power' on the part of government, which even when bestly created, still ends up having to work through humans. And humans in bureaucracies do not like to give up 'power.'

R.C.

Winternights2 · 2019-07-12T06:20:38Z

IncenDiary.

Hmm, animal attacks.

Sott news have to declare there cards on this one, as in, are they implying that there's a force at work that is the causation for these incidents.

As for being editor, I'll admit, that made me chuckle.

In a recent interview with Jimmy Dore. Bek Lover—podcaster of Albanian background whose real name is Bekim Bahrawy is interviewed by Jimmy...

Bsotted

Exactly what I was thinking, they are running low on ammo.

Voodmon2

New Zealand did this. Nothing happened. Horse face wouldn't be questioned.

Jason

Age of ai??? Narrative alert, red alert, red alert...

JTF Truth

6 yrs later, 6 years too late, 6 years of nothing.

JTF Truth

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Man killed, wife seriously injured after dog attack in Melbourne, Australia

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