Chantelle Bellingham and her father Paul are wary about walking their injured dogs Ruffy and Ollie, after they were attacked by two other dogs last week.
By Mara Sowden-Pattison
A MILLGROVE father has warned about roaming dogs after he and his dogs were attacked in “a pretty terrifying” ordeal last week.
His dogs were taken to the RSPCA hospital in Burwood for stitches, medication, and one required an operation for a ruptured bowel.
It is the second known dog attack in the Yarra Ranges since new laws came into force in September, creating new offences for a person who fails to control a dangerous, menacing or restricted breed dog when it endangers or kills another person.
In the first attack a four-year-old Mooroolbark girl was taken to hospital with head wounds on 14 October after her pet dog attacked her.
This time it was milkman Paul Bellingham and his two shih-tzus, Ollie and Ruffy, that were left bleeding after being set upon by two bigger dogs in a Millgrove neighbourhood.
Mr Bellingham walks with his dogs to the Millgrove newsagency every Sunday morning to get the newspaper.
But around 9am on Sunday 4 December, they were set upon by two bigger dogs, which he said looked like Staffordshire terriers, while walking along McKenzie King Drive.
“It was a quick attack,” he said.
“I was forced to the ground, one dog was being bitten and the other dog I released to get away. “When (the attacking dog) finally let go the other one was jumping for me, he got me and nicked me a few times.”
“It was pretty terrifying having one latching on; I have a few bites but nothing too serious.”
Mr Bellingham was able to tie the two dogs up with the help of a neighbour, and Ollie and Ruffy were both rushed through to the emergency room at Burwood RSPCA.
Ollie had been bitten and the attacking dog’s teeth punctured his bowel.
He needed stitches and both dogs are still on medication.
“The dog was three times his size,” Mr Bellingham said.
“Luckily I’m a fairly healthy person and was able to fight them off,” he said.
“If it was my daughter or the old lady down the street – the dogs would be dead, and who knows what would happen to them.”
Mr Bellingham said although he understood that animals could escape, it seemed as though Millgrove had a lot of roaming dogs.
“It’s really disturbing and there’s lots of dogs around and it shouldn’t happen,” he said.
“Especially in this good weather, people can be careless – dogs do get out and it does happen but it happens too much out here,” he said.
“A lot of people around here work during the day but I don’t believe you need big menacing dogs to guard a house – mine are little but loud, and they do the job well.”
Last year 37 dog owners from Yarra Ranges were prosecuted in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court and the council issued 31 infringement notices.
Yarra Ranges Council is investigating the incident.
