Albany rangers report two serious dog attacks in one week, leaving a chihuahua dead and woman with leg wound

Rangers have reported two serious dog attacks in Albany this week, the first resulting in a dog being mauled to death and the second leaving a woman with a severe leg wound that required hospital treatment. The attacks, which occurred on the evenings of September 2 and 5 respectively, were investigated by City of Albany rangers, who have since seized the offending dogs. The first incident was on Monday at 7.15pm, when a woman who was walking with her two small, leashed dogs on Radiata Drive near The Pines Estate in McKail, was approached by someone who asked if she had seen two large dogs that had gone missing from a nearby property. The woman located the dogs, a labrador and a staffy-cross-labrador, nearby harassing two young boys on their bikes. The woman’s two dogs starting barking, alerting the larger dogs which rushed over and attacked the smaller ones. One of the woman’s two dogs, a chihuahua, died as a result of the injuries sustained in the attack, with the woman left shaken. City of Albany rangers coordinator Carl Fjastad said the dogs have been identified and seized with full cooperation of the owners but they are still seeking to contact the parents of the two children. “We want to thank people who responded to our public appeal for information,” he said. “Some information was very good and very helpful in assisting in investigations. “We would still like to seek to parents of two children because we think the children may have witnessed the attack.” The second incident occurred on Thursday at 8pm in an Albany suburb. Rangers reported that a woman was in a semi-enclosed section of her backyard with her dog, where she was attacked out of nowhere by an American-Staffordshire cross. They said the dog bit her on the lower leg “quite savagely” and was only stopped when her own dog came to her defence. The woman sustained a severe bite wound to her calf that had to be treated with stitches and a tetanus shot at Albany Health Campus. Rangers said the attacking dog is known to them. Mr Fjastad said the attacks were not connected and urged owners to keep their dogs well secured. “We would like to remind dog owners that they are responsible for their dogs at all times,” he said. “They need to make sure they are contained securely and when they are out-and-about they need to be under full control.” The maximum penalty for a dog attack is $10,000, and $20,000 if the dog has been declared dangerous. Further enforcement can include prosecuting the owner in court and making an application for the dog to be destroyed. If a person is convicted for two offences under the 1976 Dog Act, they can be ordered not to own or be in possession of any dogs. If you have any information regarding the dog attack on September 2, please contact City of Albany rangers at 6820 3999.