Mandurah man David Fairborn urges small dog owners to carry weapons after horrific Greenfields attack

An elderly Mandurah man believes owners of small dogs should carry protection to avoid an attack like the one that left his tiny Maltese shih-tzu cross with life-threatening injuries. David Fairborn remains distraught months after the horrific attack on little Loki, though he is not the only one suffering: Robert Grafham, whose American Staffordshire Brody attacked Loki, made the heartbreaking decision to have his dog put down. Mandurah Magistrate’s Court was told that in Greenfields in August last year Mr Grafham was walking Brody when he slipped out of his lead and launched at Loki in an unprovoked attack. Mr Grafham asked to have Brody put down “so that no one who came in contact with him would have to go through that again”. Though he was fined $900 and ordered to pay nearly $1000, Mr Fairborn does not believe justice has been done. Mr Fairborn said his “happy and social” pet was “ripped right open at the side” and has become anxious and defensive. “He knew in his head he was about to be killed,” Mr Fairborn said. “All I could do is thrust my hand into this dog’s mouth and try to pry them apart.” Mr Fairborn said he carried a steel walking stick for a long time and was considering buying pepper spray after the attack. He said he knew of other owners of small dogs in Mandurah who carried weapons in case of similar incidents. “There are so many reports of dog attacks in Mandurah,” Mr Fairborn said. “The message for this town is if you have a small dog, a companion dog, carry a weapon.” Meanwhile, Mr Grafham and his wife Judi are also still feeling the trauma of what they describe as the “absolute heartbreak” of having Brody put down. “That was one of the hardest decisions we ever had to make,” Mr Grafham said. “My wife’s still going through counselling because of it; it’s deeply upset her and I haven’t been in a good headspace since.” He said that what happened was “totally out of character” for Brody. “We have three granddaughters, aged five downwards, and he was great with them. He never showed any signs of aggression at all and losing him has been very hard on them.” The couple told the Mandurah Coastal Times they wouldn’t get another rescue dog. “As much as we’d like to help them we just can’t go through all that again,” he said. Mr Grafham believes the stiff penalty he received in court was designed to send a message to other owners. “There have been so many dogs that are just left to roam the streets and Brody wasn’t one of them; he was always in the backyard or if he was out, he was on a lead,” he said. Starbarks Dog Training owner Lisa Ms Ricketts said past experience, mental health issues and lead aggression could influence aggressive behaviour in pets. However, she said a significant number of dog owners in the community recognised their dog needed training.