AUSTRALIA -- A Langford dog owner was allegedly forced to stab their dog to death in order to free their partner from the Chinese fighting dog's jaws.
A 36-year-old man, who was still in Royal Perth Hospital yesterday afternoon, was left with severe injuries to his legs after being mauled by the dog.
A RPH spokesperson said he was in a stable condition.
The other dog owner, a 31-year-old woman, was bitten on both arms but was discharged from hospital yesterday because her injuries were not serious.
"The dog was stabbed to death in order to free the victim," a police spokesperson said.
Police said St John Ambulance received a call at about 10pm on Thursday from a Nicholson Road resident who was "screaming" they were being attacked.
But when they arrived they found the Chinese shar pei, which is not listed as a restricted breed, had been stabbed to death.
Police said it was up to local rangers to investigate the stabbing because it was not a criminal incident but City of Gosnells director of governance Trevor Perkins said police were authorised under the Dog Act to begin any civil or criminal proceedings.
Mr Perkins said there were no shar peis listed with the city as a dangerous dog.
Restricted dogs include the fila brasilerio, Japanese tosa and American pit bull terrier.
RSPCA WA spokesman Tim Mayne said if a dog was a restricted breed it did not mean the animal was not dangerous.
"It's is the deed rather than the breed," Mr Mayne said.
"Every time I get one of these calls it's a different type of dog. It's about how the dog has been brought up, it's the temperament, it's the training or sometimes there can be medical reasons why a dog attacks somebody."
For example, he had heard about a German shepherd which had been bashing its head against the wall and trying to attack young children.
"The vet euthanised it and during the post-mortem found a massive tumour on the brain that was driving the dog insane," Mr Mayne said.
He could not comment on whether he thought the stabbing was reasonable in the circumstances because he did not know all the details.
(West Australian - June 18, 2011)
Read More:
